Questing for the Brotherhood
by Falara Hughes
Summary: The Brotherhood is given a medieval twist of the wrist and a few OCs (Original Characters) based on some friends. Comic book characters added for amusement. All four chapters are now complete, and a credits section has been added. Reviews welcome.
1. Chapter 1

**The Misadventure of Sir Lancelot**

  
  


Lancelot's venture through the forest was not a comfortable one. With every three steps of his horse's hooves, he had to look over his shoulder to the sound of snapping twigs. Something was following him and it had been ever since he entered the deeper reaches of the woodland. Bringing his ride to a halt, he then dismounted and brought a hand to the hilt of his sword. "Show thyself, hidden rogue," he shouted. "Demon or Human thou be, neither my soul nor my gold shall fall prey to thy wicked ways!"

"You're kidding, right?" The leaves of a nearby tree rustled, then down dropped a boy who was in his early teens. His pale-grey skin and homely facial appearance suggested that he was kin to Trolls, but his scrawny body made him out to be Human. After coming to a hunched stand, the boy pushed a pair of goggles away from his face and into his mottled, brown hair, showing off the pea-green pupils of his yellowed eyes. A grin that revealed margarine-yellow teeth spread across his face, and his bare arms folded across his chest as he looked to the knight. "What's with all that 'thee,' 'thou' and 'thy' crap? Talking like that can get you killed in these parts, pal."

Lancelot sneered as he looked down his nose at the stranger. "A waif should not be venturing through the forests of Machusa. But you are a sign of civilization. Be there a town near here, and if so, which direction should I travel to reach it?"

The grin never left the boy's face. "There's one, yeah. But you don't wanna go there."

"Praytell why not," Lancelot inquired with an arched eyebrow.

"Because when I get through with you," the boy said as he uncrossed his arms, "the people of the nearby village will laugh you back into the forest." He reached into one of the many pockets of his tan, baggy pants, pulled out a makeshift knife, then poked it forward while taking an offensive stance. "Now hand over everything valuable or I'll gut ya like a fish."

Lancelot's eyes went wide at this, not because he was frightened, but because he was astounded at what he felt was the boy's idiocy. Here he was, a knight in light but noticeable armor, bearing the seal of the Terra Firma Guild--knights who were world renown for their skill in battle--and being challenged by a ragged thief who had yet to hit puberty? "Are you daft," he asked as his arms went to his sides with clenched fists. "I am a knight and you are a mere child! To drop my blade in your vicinity could spell death for you, boy, so I suggest you reconsider this!"

"Let me put it this way, Sir Talksalot," the rogue said as he twirled his knife in his fingers. "I've taken out warriors with bigger nuts than you, so either drop the gold or pick up your sword and fight!"

Lancelot realized then that the child's intentions were true, and he had no choice but to defend himself. Still, it was against his code to kill young Humans, and since he was uncertain as to wether or not this robber was otherwise, he kept his sword in his sheath and held up his hands. "Child, what you are truly in need of, I have no time to give. Now if you will simply tell me where the nearest village is I will pay you for the information and be on my way!"

Both the knight and the thief's attention was brought to the sound of the horse's distress, for out of the trees a young woman had dropped onto its saddled backside. The horse reared in an attempt to throw her but she skillfully gained control of it, then pointed an open palm towards Lancelot. "Why should he settle for a little gold for a lot of information when he can have a lot of gold for no information," she queried calmly. Her black lips were a contrast to her milky white skin, but went well with her jet black hair which was cut short in a masculine hairstyle. Lancelot noticed this most of all about her, and while it did intrigue him, the severity of his situation was enough to snap him out of his daze.

The young thief and his cohort circled the knight, one on foot and the other on the captured steed. Still, Lancelot did not bring a hand back to his sword. He made a silent apology to his faithful mount whose eyes met his, then he clenched his fists tighter than before and cried out. In that same instant the ground gave way under the feet of the horse and the boy. It swallowed them like quicksand and when the woman tried to escape, a wave of dirt rolled over her and engulfed her as well. The event was swift enough to catch Lancelot's assailants completely off guard, and when the ground settled again he was the only one left standing.

A sigh left the knight's lips as he fell to one knee, wearied by the effort. He rested for several minutes before he began crawling along the ground in search of something, or rather, someone. Once he found a proper spot in the dirt road, he plunged his arm straight through it as though it were water, then fished around. His chainmail glove latched onto his target, and in the next instant he hoisted the young thief halfway up out of the ground by his hair. The boy gasped for air and looked to Lancelot with fear in his eyes.

"Now," the knight began, "are you going to show me the way to the nearest village, or shall I put you back in the earth?"

  
  


Using rope he had earlier secured to the tuille of his armor, Lancelot bound the thief's arms to his body and his hands to his back. Afterwards, he pulled him the rest of the way out of the ground. "You know," the boy commented as he fidgeted in his bindings, "this is going to take us a while, since you don't have your horse anymore."

"Oh, I have my horse," Lancelot stated, then motioned towards a clear section of the road. The ground rippled and shook, and after a time it pushed up the light brown steed that belonged to him. The poor creature was shaken, but alive, and after it shook the dirt from its mane it returned to its master and lowered its head so he could easily take hold of its reigns.

The thief was awestruck. "How.... did you do that?"

"I am a knight of the Terra Firma Guild," Lancelot replied as he climbed onto his mount. "Just as you walk over the earth, I rule over it." He gave a harsh tug to the rope that held his captive. "Now start walking, and if you try anything, I will bury you once again."

"Whatever," the boy muttered, then started off. His first steps were awkward, then he began hopping along at short intervals. This act puzzled the knight who watched for a few meters before stopping his horse and prisoner.

"Just... what are you doing?"

The boy looked over his shoulder at him. "You get there your way, I'll get there mine. But you better speed up that horse or else we'll both be in the forest longer than we should."

Lancelot remained puzzled, but he complied, first by motivating his horse to a mild trot. To his surprise, the young thief kept ahead and he had to speed his horse considerably to keep up with him. Each hop the boy made launched him twelve feet in front, and whenever the horse's gallop brought it neck and neck he would leap ahead again. Now the knight was convinced that this boy was not Human, but he still didn't wish to do away with him. Mentally he decided to let the boy go once they reached the outskirts of civilization.

  
  


The sun was in the process of setting when Lancelot and his charge reached a sign that marked the fringes of Bavil, the village he was being led to. "Before I let you go," he said as he dismounted from his horse, "tell me something. How is it that you kept up with my steed so well? Are you Human, or something else?"

The boy smirked. "I'm of the Hoppera Tribe. We do that."

Lancelot took the tribe's name to heart while he busied himself with untying the bonds. "The Hoppera Tribe? I do not believe that I have ever heard of such creatures."

"That's because I'm the last one." Once his hands were free, the boy massaged his wrists while he squatted on the ground. "The Army of Magnus brushed through my hometown and wiped everyone out because they didn't want to join his crusade! Lucky for me, I was on a supply run to another village when it happened."

The Army of Magnus: It was the very thing Lancelot was venturing toward. Not long ago he was sent an invitation by Lord Magnus to be a part of his illustrious world order, and had decided to accept. But if this boy was telling him the truth, then it would make a complete change of his plans for the future.

"Are you certain it was the Army of Magnus," he kneeled down to inquire. "You said you weren't there; it could have been the Keepers of Humanity."

"The Keepers of Humanity were on the other side of the world when this happened," the boy snapped back with a frown. "Besides, when I came back to my crumbling home, there were a few people still on their last breath who told me as much of what happened as they could manage to get out!" He stopped to breathe, then continued. "The Army of Magnus is out to conquer the world, and they don't care who they step on in the process! Everyday Lord Magnus gets newer, more powerful recruits. Everyday he increases the army's strength! He's already nearly unstoppable, and pretty soon we'll all be bowing down to him!"

Lancelot's face went sour. This boy had too much discord with the Army of Magnus for all of it not to be true. The knight looked to his horse, then the distant gates of Bavil. It took him seven days to reach this distance from his guild, and he did not look forward to making the return trip. But what other choice did he have? Obviously the Army of Magnus was not the stalwart company that he thought it was, and continuing his journey would have been foolish.

With a heavy sigh, Lancelot rose to his feet and took hold of his horse's reigns. "What is your name, boy?"

"Toad," the thief replied, looking up at him with a smirk. "Everyone calls me Toad."

Lancelot gave a nod to acknowledge the name. "Well then, Toad. How would you like it if I bought you some food in town before we parted ways?"

Toad blinked in surprise. "Food? Me? After I tried to rob you?"

"The information you have bestowed upon me may have saved my conscience a great deal in the long run. And it teaches me that you are not as villainous as you seem. Truly I owe this to you."

The boy rose to his feet. "Well... I'm not one to turn down free food." His grin resurfaced. "Okay, Sir Trustsaplenty. Food it is!"

Amused by the nickname, Lancelot gave a smile and a nod to Toad before heading into town on foot.

  
  


A free meal quickly turned into free food and lodging that night, for once he had his fill from the Bowel Displacer Tavern, Toad followed Lancelot to the Seraph Inn and opted to share a room with him. The arrangement didn't please the knight but he put up with it, reveling in the knowledge that he would be leaving that area in the morning. His horse was left in the inn's stable, his armor was shed and he began to turn in for the night.

"Get OUT of my bed!"

Toad batted his eyelashes cutely as he sunk below a burgundy blanket. "But it's the only bed in the room! Can't we share it?"

With a growl, Lancelot snatched the cover away from him and motioned to the floor. "This was not part of the arrangement! Before I stated that I would purchase you one meal. That meal turned into three! You've almost emptied my pocket of gold, and now you're trying to take my living space for the night?" He latched onto the front of the boy's teal vest and yanked him out of the bed. "You truly are a master thief, aren't you? Now either sleep on the floor or get out of my quarters!"

"Oof!" Toad landed in a heap on the floor, and after Lancelot stepped over him to sit on the bed, the boy crawled to a nearby corner and sat with his back against it. "Gee, Lance, your speech loses its nobility the more pissed off you get!" He hunched his shoulders nonchalantly. "Fine, fine, be that way. I'll just sleep on the cold, hard floor. Don't mind my shivers or tussling in discomfort."

The knight's eyes rolled. "You prove me right in my decision never to have offspring." He sighed, then brought his back to rest against the headboard of the bed. With his hands propped behind his head, he took a glance out the room's only window. Groups of drunken fellows were touring the streets, in need of a good brawl. He had his fill for the day, and was too lost in thought over the Army of Magnus to care about anything else. After a while those thoughts lost favor in his mind, and he turned to the thief who was pretending to sleep. "You didn't seem very concerned when I buried your cohort earlier."

Toad's left eye opened and focused on him. "Who, her?" His other eye opened, then he turned to face the man. "Nah. She can take care of herself. In fact...." He leaned in a way that allowed him to see the sky out the window. "By the waxing and waning of the moon, I'd say that she'll be knocking on your door right about.... now."

Several, forceful raps at the room's door grabbed both their attention, but before either could act the door was kicked open and in stormed the young woman who tried to help Toad steal from Lancelot. Spots of dirt colored the visible parts of her skin as well as her black pants and maroon vest. Clumps of dirt roost in her hair, though everytime she moved another clump would fall out. Her black lips spread into an angry sneer as she breathed heavy and motioned a finger towards the knight. All he could do was yelp in surprise as a blue bolt struck him and froze him in place.

"Hey, Scarlet," Toad said with a wave and a smile as she approached him.

"Are you all right, Toad," the woman asked, looking him over. "Did he hurt you? And how come you're no longer bound?"

"Him?" The boy motioned towards the still knight. "Oh, hey, he's been nothing but good to me! Fed me, and is lettin' me stay here for the night. Though on the floor, which is kinda cold, but better than the forest, y'know?"

The woman blinked several times in disbelief. "You mean to tell me I rushed over here to save you and you're not even in any danger?" She reached down and slapped him in the back of the head. "You wartless troll! I thought this man was trying to collect a bounty on your head!" Placing her left hand on the corresponding hip, she snapped the fingers of her right hand and the spell that had been cast over Lancelot instantly subsided.

"Agh!" The man felt all parts of his body to make sure he was all there, then looked to her in surprise. "You... you're a witch!"

"The Scarlet Witch," she announced, keeping her right hand pointed towards him.

"How did you unearth yourself? And how did you find out where we were?"

"I have my ways." She motioned to the window. "And my help."

Lancelot turned to look to the streets below, but his view was blocked by a sizeable head. Outside, a dragon that stood almost as tall as the inn was perched on its hind legs and peering into the window. It grunted in the knight's direction, then turned sideways so the statuesque woman on the crook of its neck could get a look inside. "Shall we roast him," she called in to the Scarlet Witch.

"That won't be necessary, Sky Fire," the witch replied. "But thanks for locating him. You can go now."

"Anytime, Scarlet. Ht!" The dragon lit up the sky with an exhale of flames, then took to the air. Bavil's peasants were alarmed by this, but once the beast left seeing and hearing range, things calmed down.

As he turned to look back at the thief and the witch, Lancelot couldn't get his mouth to close without help from one of his hands. Once he managed to collect himself, he rose from his bed and moved to lean against the wall nearest to him. As a knight and a gentleman, he knew it was more polite to stand as long as a woman did. "So you have found him. Will you be taking him with you?" He could only pray; unfortunately, Toad was not so willing to leave.

"Come on, Scarlet, let's bunk here for the night," the boy pleaded as rose to his feet. "We haven't slept indoors in months, and the wind is doing a number on my bones!"

"Wait! I did not say--" Lancelot's objection was interrupted.

"I think it's a fine idea," The Scarlet Witch declared.

"But I--"

Toad jumped for joy. "Yeah!" He then leaped into the bed, slid under the covers and closed his eyes.

The knight gawked at this. "Now wait just a Demon-loving minute! That Toad infringed upon my good nature!"

"And now I'm doing it," the witch replied, holding up an index finger. "Shall we debate it?"

The blue glow that touched the tip of her finger was foreboding enough to overrule all of Lancelot's objections to the situation. While she took up the rest of the space in the bed he gave off a heavy sigh, then settled in a corner of the room for the night. "It'll all be over in the morning," he thought to himself as he closed his eyes. The lantern that lit the room burned out long before he found a comfortable position to sleep in.

  
  


The morning was little better for Lancelot. When he awoke, the Scarlet Witch wouldn't let him leave without answering a barrage of questions about himself and his reason for being in Machusa. Often times he tried to get his own questions in, but the witch was an expert at dodging issues. For the time being she remained an enigma to him, albeit one whose company he was starting to enjoy.

"So you were planning to join the Army of Magnus, but now you're not." The woman finished wiping the dirt from her body using the pillowcase from the bed. "What changed your mind?"

Lancelot motioned towards Toad, who was still fast asleep. "Is his story truthful? He claims he came home to his village and found it destroyed by the Army of Magnus."

The Scarlet Witch looked back at the boy with an arched brow. "Came home?" She shook her head as she sat on the edge of the bed. "He would lie like that. Toad was there when it happened. The Army of Magnus tore through the jungle village of the Hopperas. They killed all the elders and adults, then stole the children and put them in a camp to learn to be perfect soldiers." Her eyes narrowed. "Toad wasn't a very willing learner. He's bold, but a coward at heart. Eventually they would have killed him for being useless if I hadn't rescued him."

Lancelot's own brows arched at this. "You speak very negatively about your traveling companion."

"I speak very truthfully about him," she corrected him, then rose to her feet once again as the boy stirred. "Rise and shine, Toad. We have to get going soon."

"Finally," Lance thought to himself, "I'm almost free!" But he still had questions that he wanted answered. Going against his better judgement, he spoke out. "I still wish to know how you unearthed yourself."

The Scarlet Witch looked over her shoulder at him. "I told you, I have my ways."

"You should have been dead," he protested. "Or at the very least.... winded?"

She smirked, then moved to stand toe to toe with him. Lancelot was more than a few inches taller than the Scarlet Witch, but that didn't prevent her from trying to loom at him. "Didn't you know," she whispered softly. "You can't kill a witch unless you burn her." Their eyes met, and as he lost himself in her irises, she reached up a hand slowly to pluck him on the forehead. "Now quit asking," the Scarlet Witch commanded, then brought her arms to rest across her chest.

Lancelot gritted his teeth as he rubbed his forehead. "I'll keep that in mind," he grumbled, then turned towards the armoire where he had put his things. The lock was still secure, so he knew his supplies had not been touched. "I must confess," he said as he turned to face his guests, "this has been a rather interesting day. Far more interesting than the last six I spent traversing the lands. Whatever your quests, I pray they are successful." He was being as polite as he could muster to encourage them to leave quickly.

"What a polished boot," Toad cackled as he hopped on the windowsill. "Come on, Scarlet! I can smell the bread on the windowsill of the bakery."

"Coming," the woman called to him, then gave a nod to the knight. "Thanks for the hospitality. Have a safe journey."

Lancelot watched as the two leaped out of the second-story window. A loud and heavy sigh of relief left his mouth in the next moment, and he used the armoire to keep himself from collapsing to the ground. He considered staying at the inn for one more night to get some real rest, but Bavil no longer held any reverence for him, and the possibility of seeing those thieves again made it even less of a nice place to visit. In the back of his brown leather boot he reached for a key, then turned to, unlocked and opened the armoire. To his surprise, all he found inside of it was his suit of armor.

The knight tore from his room in a fury of motion, thumping noisily down the stairs to the first level, and almost tripping as he burst past the Seraph Inn's front door. Neither one of the thieves were in seeing or hearing distance. With his fists clenched, he raced into the inn's stable and looked to the stall where he had left his horse. It was gone! Not only had Toad and the Scarlet Witch taken his supplies, but they had also stolen his mount. The ground beneath the inn trembled as Lancelot's anger rose. "I've.... been.... ROOOOOOOOOOOOBBED!!!" All of Bavil felt the man's fury as an earthquake shook the village for as long as he yelled.

  
  


In the distant land of Asterum, only a crow dared to cross the sky that was blackened by unnatural clouds. On an uneasy wind it glided towards the towering keep that sat dead center in the valley, perched atop a charred mountain. The crow entered a window and traversed the twisting hallways until it came to a pair of tall, crimson doors. At the foot of these doors the crow landed, then changed shape. In its place stood a woman with skin that was deep blue in color, and hair that was ruby red. Her white eyes narrowed as she took hold of both doors and pulled them open to reveal a spacious throne room. The room's interior was made of black marble with swirls of grey and dull gold running the lengths of the floor like cracks. The thin heels of the woman's black leather boots struck the marble in a marching rhythm as she sauntered quickly between the support pillars, stopping a good distance in, but also a good distance away from the darkened figure who sat on the room's only throne.

"Sire," she began with a light inclination of her head, "I have found her."

The low rumble of shifting armor came from the shadow of the throne, followed by a deep and unfriendly voice. "Where is she?"

"Starting her own little crusade in Bavil of Machusa. Still traveling with that Hoppera she rescued from Sabretooth's training camp."

"He still lives? Impressive. But then again, my daughter has a way of keeping well the things she dedicates herself to." A velvet gauntlet crept out of the shadow and waved in the air. A portal with a purple hue appeared where the gauntlet waved, and in its face there showed the back of a thin young man with white hair that was cropped short. By the looks of it, he was enjoying himself at a party where dozens of young men and women were, and the sight of this made the dark figure growl. "QUICKSILVER!" The boom of his voice stopped all activity, and those guests that could be seen took one look at the portal, then ran away. The young man in question took a moment to straighten the collar of his turquoise robe before he turned a humble look to the portal.

"Yes, Lord Magnus?"

"Your sister has been located," the man stated in a calmer tone. "I want you to go to her. Use your cunning to win her back to our side."

Quicksilver brushed a few tufts of his hair out of his eyes before nodding to the portal. "Yes, Lord Magnus. Tell me where she is, and I will be there in the next instant."

"I have no doubt that you will. Go to Bavil; you should find her doing business there. Convince her to be one of us, and her friends will easily follow." A rumble echoed through the throne room. "Do not fail me, Quicksilver. This is the last chance I am allowing your sister for redemption."

"Yes, Lord Magnus." Before the portal closed, the young man took off in a blur of motion.

Though her input was not always welcome, the woman who stood waiting in Lord Magnus' throne room gave it anyway. "Quicksilver's cunning is often negated by his sister's angst."

"And amplified by her guilt," the lord threw back at her.

"True, but his love for her may prove to be a problem."

Another rumble echoed throughout the throne room. "If you have something to offer, Mystique, do not waste time mincing words," Lord Magnus bellowed. "Tell me. Now!"

The woman smirked as she reveled in how well she could annoy him without suffering any consequences. "Allow me to send a backup, just in case he does fall prey to his sister's preachings. She will keep watch over him, and lead him back to us if he goes astray."

An awkward silence reigned over the throne room for several moments. "Very well," the lord finally replied. "Send your spy. If all things fail, have my son brought back to me, and my daughter executed. I will have none of my lineage against me."

"As you wish, Lord Magnus." Mystique bent forward and took on the form of a raven once more, then flew away.

  
  


The forest surrounding Bavil held many abandoned buildings from old farms and plantations. One of which was a barn where the Scarlet Witch and her cohorts took residency. The overgrowth that surrounded the barn hid it well from eyes at a distance, making it the perfect place for them to keep their goods. Inside, the witch parked her stolen horse and watched Toad go through the things he had taken from the knight. In a corner of the barn, the dragon that had stood outside the inn was curled tightly and sleeping while Sky Fire--the woman who rode it--repeatedly stroked the crest of its head.

"I don't think you should have taken so much," Scarlet said as she turned to the boy.

"I left him his armor, didn't I," Toad replied while throwing aside some of the more useless items. Spying a sword still in its sheath he bent down to pick it up, but found it a bit difficult to lift; the sword was heavier than it looked. After a bit of trouble, he managed to get it into both his arms before he fell back on his rear from the effort. "Man. That knight must eat a lot of grain! You'd have to be strong as a horse to wield this thing!" He pulled it partway from its sheath and gasped at the design of the blade's base. A white diamond, ball of obsidian and knot of gold had been imbedded in the blade just above the steel handle. Each rock was the size of a child's fist and would have been worth a considerable amount of money if they could have been removed.

The Scarlet Witch noticed this from where she stood and quickly cleared the distance between herself and the thief. "Looks like that blade's been enchanted."

"Yeah," Toad cackled, taking a knife from the leg of his right boot. "But it won't be once I get those gems out of it."

"You won't be able to." The witch smirked. "But I know that won't stop you from trying." She brought her arms together slowly behind her back and bent forward to watch, but then a feeling hit her and she straightened once more. A chill raised the hairs on the back of her neck, telling her that the feeling was more of a premonition.

The dragon lifted its head suddenly as it too sensed something approaching. Sky Fire--who was tossed aside as the dragon awoke--pulled herself from a pile of hay and crawled back over to her mount. "It's moments like this when I hate being bare-legged," she stated as she climbed onto its neck. "I think Blooper senses something."

"So do I," the Scarlet Witch said in a distant tone, then turned to face the old barn doors. One door shivered soundlessly and in the next instant, Quicksilver came into view standing a few yards away from her. While Toad, Sky Fire and Blooper looked on questioningly, he and the Scarlet Witch maintained a staring contest for several moments. During this time, the sound of the barn door opening and closing, and the sound of pattering footsteps finally caught up with the young man--the dust also finally leaped from the barn floor in a cloud that spread around him.

Quicksilver's outfit had changed since he left Asterum: he traded his robe for a sleeveless, turquoise top with gold trim that stopped at the hips of his grey leggings which, in turn, disappeared into the calf-high legs of his black leather boots. Whenever a speck of dust dared to land on his outfit he reached a hand up in a blur of motion to brush it away, but his gaze never left the woman in front of him. The Scarlet Witch was his twin sister who he had not seen since they were children. They had both had time to change considerably, but just by looking into each other's eyes they could tell who one another were. Only his face seemed to soften as they stood there--hers remained as frigid as it would have if she were staring down a stranger.

When the awkward silence became too much, Quicksilver cleared his throat and began to speak. "Hey. Long time no see?"

"Shouldn't you be out conquering with _him_," the Scarlet Witch asked without emotion, her fingers curling into fists.

Her brother shrugged lightly. "What's to conquer? We own practically all of the world." He shook his head rapidly, then made an attempt to correct himself. "I mean... I really missed you." It wasn't one of his smoother moments, but trying to hide the emotion of seeing his sibling was throwing him off.

The witch chuffed, bringing her arms across her chest. "I bet."

"I'm serious!" Quicksilver rubbed the back of his head and brought his voice to a humble tone. "I... I didn't even know if you were still alive."

"Like you couldn't have found out. You can circle the globe in half an hour with a sore toe, and you couldn't get off your ass to find out what I was doing?"

"The circumstances prevented it!" He made a habit of constantly shifting his position out of adamant restlessness. "You know I wanted to. I just couldn't."

"And what circumstance prevented you from coming with me when you could have?" Scarlet's arms lowered so her hands could rest on her hips. "It would have been so easy. You and me, running away together, but no. You wanted to stay with _him_!"

In the background, Toad had managed to drag the jewel-encrusted sword over to Sky Fire, then the two started whispering speculations about the stranger in their midst. "Sounds like a past lover who left her for a man," the woman started.

"Maybe a suitor who decided following a king was better than marrying her," the boy suggested. "But he doesn't look like her type."

"I was just a _child_, Scarlet," Quicksilver said as he continued to argue his case to his sister. "So were you! I didn't think you were really going to leave; I thought you were just throwing another one of your tantrums!"

"My _tantrums_ were my way of protesting our father's mistreatment of the world," she yelled back at him. "If you had any guts you would've done the same!"

"What, protested our father making a way for us?" Now he was getting tired of being genteel. "Newsflash, sister: I don't have to care about anything, and neither do you! We're immortal! We've inherited the Universe, and you're throwing that inheritance away by crying over a few, measly slaves!"

"The only people who deserve to be slaves are people like you and him," the witch continued to yell. "Always stepping over people, robbing them of their right to be free, and claiming that your way is best!"

"Oh, and what _good_ have you wrought this era, huh?" Quicksilver motioned to the stolen items that were scattered around the barn. "Yes, stealing is _such_ a noble act," he said with a hint of sarcasm. "Why pay for something honestly when you can apply the five finger discount skills of a worthless Hoppera?"

"I heard that," Toad shouted from the back of the barn.

"Oh, my apologies," the man shouted back. "A worthless Hoppera who can hear exceptionally well!"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" His sister's voice echoed throughout the barn and some of the surrounding foliage. When he looked at her, both her hands were glowing blue and pointed open-palm in his direction. "Go, Quicksilver. Run home and tell that man that I will NOT be a part of his nightmarish world order! Tell him that the next time he sees me, it will be through the blood that rushes down his face after I've bashed his damn head in! And if you ever come looking for me again, I WILL blast you without hesitation!"

The threat of death snapped Quicksilver back into the severity of the moment. His sister was threatening to destroy him and she almost had every right to. But, his quick mind allowed him to think up a way out of this situation. While they stood there staring each other down, he extended his arms outward, then dropped to his knees. "Do it."

The expression on her face faltered momentarily. "What?"

"If it'll make up for what happened years ago, go ahead. Vaporize me on the spot." Quicksilver managed to hold this position, despite his restlessness. "Look, Scarlet, I'm sorry. When you ran away from Asterum, I wanted so much to go with you, but... I was scared. In spite of being immortal, I've never been brave like you or father. I've always been unsure about myself, wondering if I really have the power to do all the things he told us we could." His eyes glazed over with the tears he had tried to suppress. "All these years I've sat and wondered how it could have been different. How we could have gone away together, been a team, and started your crusade to end our father's tyranny. But everytime those thoughts entered my head he'd come loom over me like a shadow and remind me where my loyalties should lie. Where yours should have been. So overtime I just... took on the train of thought that you were the one who was in the wrong, not us. And now.... I'm at the end of my rope and about to be hung. Wether by you or him, it doesn't matter. It just looks like it's going to happen."

While he spoke, the glow to the Scarlet Witch's hands faded and her arms slowly lowered to her sides. A few times her face lost its cold expression but she regained enough concentration to replace it; however, by the end of his speech, both her eyebrows were raised high on her forehead and her jaw had become lax. When a tear dared to roll down the left side of her brother's face, a pain hit her in her chest like none other. All of a sudden she felt guilty for having inherited all of her father's strength and leaving her brother without anyone to be strong for him. In her mind it became clear to her that this situation was her fault, and if she killed her brother for following orders, she would be no better than the very man she despised. Quicksilver's plea succeeded in marginally softening her heart and, without thinking, she rushed forward to embrace him. The man knew he was in then, but he couldn't help but return the hug with as much sincerity as she was offering, if not more.

  
  


Having become a captive audience, Toad and Sky Fire looked on quietly as the twins held each other in silent reunion. Eventually the boy shook himself out of his daze and went back to trying to pry the jewels from the stolen sword, and the sound of metal clanging against stone caught Quicksilver's attention. "Hey, isn't that a blade of the Terra Firma Guild," he inquired as he gently pulled away from his sister's grasp.

Toad greedily wrapped his arms around the sword and its sheath. "Mine! I stole it fair and square, now I'm gonna strip it and sell it!"

The man laughed at this, taking a moment to wipe the moisture from his face and rise to his feet. "That's a good one. Okay, Hoppera, I'll let you in on a few things. First, you can't take apart one of those swords by prying at it. The sword was forged by magic, and can only be taken apart by the same magic. And second, you won't get far with that thing because the knight who it belongs to is on his way here as we speak."

Scarlet pulled herself to a stand and gave her brother a questioning look. "How do you know?"

"All knights belonging to a guild are given swords that they are magically in tune with," he replied with a smirk. "You could bury that thing in the center of the earth and he'd know exactly where to dig for it. And besides." His right thumb jerked and motioned towards the barn doors. "I saw a knight storming in this direction while I raced here." The barn began to tremble. "Yep, that should be him now."

"I _told_ you to leave the sword," the witch barked in Toad's direction while positioning herself to meet the knight head-on. She lifted her hands and they glowed with energy waiting to be used.

Dust and hay fell from the rafters of the barn as its shaking increased in frequency. Sky Fire kept her dragon from panicking, but it still swayed with uneasiness. The doors of the barn gradually opened because of the constant trembling, but no figure stood outside. Everyone looked quizzically at this, then their attention was quickly brought to a splintering sound in the back of the barn. The backside of the barn ripped from its frame and slipped into the ground, and afterwards the hayloft came crashing down on top of Sky Fire and Blooper, burying them in wood and hay. Toad leaped away in time to avoid any damage and the twins quickly turned to face what was coming their way.

Stepping past the pile that trapped the dragon and its master, Lancelot stormed into the barn and motioned towards the remaining three with an outstretched hand. His eyes had lost all color and his teeth clenched so tight they looked ready to crack. A single vein bulged in his forehead, pulsing with every tremble of the world around them. "My sword, my horse, my things, or your LIFE," he barked, his angry gaze focusing on the Scarlet Witch.

At that moment, the fallen hayloft exploded in a spray of hay and splintered wood as the bronze drake known as Blooper freed itself from its prison. Its wings unfurled to reveal Sky Fire holding fast to its back, and when she saw that the coast was clear she motioned towards the knight and yelled, "Roast him!"

Blooper exhaled a cone of flames towards Lancelot, but before it could reach him the knight spun to face them and stomped his left foot. A thin spike of stone shot up from the ground in front of him and caused the spray of fire to split and divulge in opposing directions. He then flexed the fingers on his right hand and the dirt beneath the dragon's feet gained the consistency of quicksand.

While his sister powered up her energy to blast the knight, Quicksilver took a hard look at him, feeling that he knew him from somewhere. "That face... That hair," he muttered to himself. "I know I've seen it before." Without a second thought he raced out the barn doors and disappeared in the forest.

The Scarlet Witch sent a powerful burst of energy in Lancelot's direction, but a wall of dirt rose up behind him and absorbed it, crumbling after the impact. She started to power up again, but the knight stomped his foot and sent a wave of earth rolling in her direction, causing her to abandon her assault in order to leap away in time. Meanwhile, Toad crawled into a corner of the barn and cowered, hugging the stolen sword tightly.

With her dragon's feet stuck in the ground, Sky Fire leaped off its back and tried helping it by digging at the dirt. Strangely enough, every time she scooped up a handful of dirt the ground would shift to cover the hole as though it had never been there. "Dammit," she cried out in frustration, then turned and yelled at the knight, "Release my dragon you dirt clod!"

"Give me back what you stole from me and I will leave you all in peace," Lancelot yelled back, then turned in time to dodge another blast from the Scarlet Witch.

"You'll get your things back when you learn to calm down," the witch yelled as she charged her powers again.

Just then, Quicksilver returned to the barn and positioned himself between his sister and the knight. When the dust of his wake settled, he stood with his arms extended and a hand pointed towards either of them. "Whoa! Let's not kill each other just yet. We could all turn out to be friends in a minute."

Lancelot blinked his eyes back to normality and focused a sneer on him. "All chances of earning my friendship have been nullified by their act of thievery! And if you are in cahoots with their operation, then the same applies to you!"

Quicksilver shook his head in annoyance, then sped over to Toad. His left hand moved in a blur as he snatched the sword from the boy's grasp, then with his right hand he gave him a rapid smack on the cheek. "Stupid creature." In the next second he stood in front of the knight, holding the sheathed sword out to him with both hands. "Sir Lancelot, your weapon."

"Don't," the Scarlet Witch called to him, but it was too late. With his weapon in arm's length, the knight didn't hesitate to take it from the other man's grasp.

"I thank you for your assistance," he said in a thankless tone, "but how is it that you know my name?"

Once the sword was no longer in his grip, Quicksilver brought his hands to rest on his hips. "You're Sir Lancelot of the Terra Firma. One of the most impressive knights of their guild. Lord Magnus sent you an invitation to join his army!"

The knight unsheathed his weapon and checked it for damage while he talked. "That is precise, but I have declined his invitation. I plan on sending him word as soon as I reclaim my things."

Quicksilver was shocked. "Decline? You can't do that! No one declines an invitation from my father; he can make or break your meager existence!"

"Now wait just a minute." Sky Fire looked up from where she sat near Blooper. "This 'father' that you and Scarlet have been arguing about is Lord Magnus? The Lord Magnus?"

Toad leaped out into the open, still holding the cheek that was slapped. "But... but that means Scarlet's related to the scourge of the earth..." He looked to the witch with doubt building in his eyes.

She knew it was a mistake not telling them before. The Scarlet Witch let out a heavy sigh as she turned to face the boy. "Yes, Toad. He's my father."

Quicksilver's eyes sparkled as he realized what was going on and he decided to add fuel to the fire. "That's right," he said as he moved next to his sister and linked an arm around her shoulders. "Scarlet and I, are heirs to the Magnus world order. I've just come to bring her back home where she belongs." He barely managed to keep his balance as she shoved him away.

"I don't believe this." Toad shook his head several times as he backed away from the twins. "You're one of them!"

"Toad, it's not what you think," the Scarlet Witch said as she took one step towards him, but she could see that he was ready to leap away the moment she came within reaching distance. "Yes, I'm his daughter, but I don't want his legacy! I ran away from him so I could put a stop to what he was doing to people like you."

"You mean us cowards at heart who'd be killed if we weren't rescued by people like you?" The boy focused a hurt glare on her, then took off out the barn doors. What a turn of events for Quicksilver! He could see that winning his sister back to their father's side was all a matter of making her followers abandon her. This was kept in mind as he stood back to watch what other exchanges there might have been. 

Since he found what he came for, Lancelot released his hold over the ground and allowed Blooper to free itself. So while the knight saddled his horse and prepared to leave, Sky Fire mounted her dragon and guided it towards the barn doors. "Should have told us, Scarlet," she called over her shoulder. "'Specially Toad. Don't worry, I'll bring him back safe."

When it was only the two of them, the Scarlet Witch turned a glare on her brother. "You are such an ass. How dare you come in here and disrupt my team like that!"

Quicksilver motioned to the remaining sides of the barn. "'In here' is slowly becoming a part of the great outdoors," he pointed out, taking a moment to listen to the sounds of splintering wood. "Come on, Scarlet. What're you doing out here besides holding onto your misery?"

"I'm trying to help people," she snapped back at him. "I may not be ready to take him on now, but when I am I'll march back to Asterum and do it without hesitation!"

"You're brooding and living in squalor!"

"It's better than building an empire on the backs of people who don't get to enjoy the end result!" The witch shook her head. "You've become accustomed to his way of doing things. If you spent time in the world that I have, your perspective would change drastically. And maybe, just maybe, you would gain some of that courage you were pretending to cry about earlier."

He was losing her trust! Quicksilver mentally cursed his arrogance before he thought of a new direction to take his plan in. "Fine, Scarlet. You think I'll learn something by 'roughing it?' Instead of running back home, I'll stay here and help your little crusade for a while. We'll see who's better off, and by the end of this thing if I'm not convinced that your cause is worth fighting for, you _have_ to come back home with me."

His sister was in no way interested in making deals that might result in her having to go back and serve Lord Magnus; however, if she could win her brother back from her father's grasp, it would be a blow to him that she would be glad to deal. "Fine," she said after a moment of thought. "But, if it turns out that my cause is greater than his, you'll denounce your loyalty to our father and help me put an end to his reign."

Quicksilver winced visibly at this. Could he truly give up the comforts of his father's kingdom for a sibling he hadn't seen in almost a decade? To him, it was bad enough that he would be living in poor conditions for a while. Not only did he have to trick his sister, but he also had to keep her from tricking him. "Deal," he said after a moment of hesitation, "but don't expect me to be won over so easily."

"Nor me," the Scarlet Witch replied, then moved for the barn doors. "I'm going to go find Toad. You stay put. I'll return, and then we'll all find a new place to stay." She left her brother behind again, but this time she would come back for him.

  
  


Outside the barn, she found that she wasn't as alone as she thought she was. Sir Lancelot sat waiting on his horse, and when the witch emerged he guided the animal to walk alongside her. "So you descend from Lord Magnus," he noted. "Yet, you oppose him and all he stands for. Your brother seems to think you undergo a foolhardy venture."

"My brother's been living a sheltered life," Scarlet replied, keeping her gaze forward. "He'll learn the ways of the real world once he spends enough time with me."

"Are you certain he is willing to learn? Perhaps he is looking to educate you."

"If that is the case, he'll have one Hell of a student on his hands." She stopped and turned to face him. "Why are you still here? You got your stuff back; shouldn't you be off writing that letter?"

As his horse stopped, Lancelot leaned sideways and looked down at her. "Is your cause just, Scarlet Witch? Or are you simply competing with your father for power?"

"The only power I want is the power to put him in his place. I want to free every nation he has held in captivity, and get revenge for every race and civilization he's crushed for getting in his way." Her eyes narrowed. "After I've seen his empire crumble and watched the last slave break the chains that bind him, it would suit me to simply lay down and die."

The knight's brows raised high on his head for a moment. "Your words intrigue me, witch. And what's more, they inspire me to give you aid."

"You?" Scarlet eyed him suspiciously. "What aid could you possibly give to me? And why?"

"You have courage and determination," he replied as he sat up straight. "This is favorable. But with only a handful of followers and one... questionable sibling, you will be crushed before you form a proper plan of assault. Now, I am venturing back to my guild to give a report of my journey. If you wish it, I shall return with a few of my brothers who will be more than willing to assist you in your quest."

If it was in the capacity of her emotions, the Scarlet Witch would have burst out laughing at his suggestion. "You're kidding, right? I mean, why should I even trust you? I stole from you, and then you made it very clear that you were more than ready to kill me and my companions for a few tools and a heavy sword."

"My sword holds more power than you can imagine, fair witch." Lancelot smirked as he tightened his grip on the reigns of his mount. "You may not trust me now, but one day you shall come to. Soon enough, we will know for certain." He gave the horse a light tap with his heels and it started off in gallop. "Fairtheewell, Scarlet," the knight called over his shoulder. "Until we meet again!"

She watched as he rode off, and a small smirk etched its way into her facial expression--one she couldn't remove so easily. It would have led to a quick chuckle, but before the sound could leave her throat she caught sight of Blooper in a return flight and literally wiped the smile from her face. The dragon landed a few feet away from her and lowered to the ground so Sky Fire and Toad could leap down safely. "I see you found him. Good," the Scarlet Witch said as she made an approach. "Toad, I didn't mean to--"

"No need to apologize, Scarlet," the boy said as he sat on the ground. "Sky Fire an' me had a talk, an' she said that if you were really still working for your dad then you probably would have turned us both in or something by now. So..." He shirked his shoulders. "Sorry I ran off. I just don't even like hearing about the guy, y'know?"

"Neither do I, Toad. Neither do I."

"So what's going to happen now," Sky Fire asked while leaning against Blooper's neck. "The barn is trashed, girl. We need a new place to hang out."

"I know," Scarlet replied, "and we're going to find one now. Quicksilver is coming with us."

Toad leaped from where he sat. "What?! No way, Scarlet, he's a jerk!"

"He's also my brother, and he's going to learn what it's like to not be high and mighty for a while." She turned to head back into the barn. "Now come on. We'll gather what supplies we have left, then find another building in the forest to settle in. I think I saw a worn-out stable a few miles to the south." The others complied, and after packing their meager provisions, they caught a ride on Blooper and crossed the forest in search of new campgrounds.

  
  


The worn-out stable was made of stone and turned out to be sturdier than the barn they last took up residency in. Unfortunately its openings were too small for Blooper to fit in, so the dragon would have to spend its nights outside. Toad joined it that night so he could enjoy the air, but as he started to doze off, he heard the sound of swift footprints moving in the nearby woods. The boy moved slowly so he wouldn't wake the drake, then followed the sound to the edge of a circle of overgrowth. In the midst of the circle there stood an aged fountain and on it sat Quicksilver, staring sheepishly into a small portal. On the other side of the portal was Lord Magnus, and he seemed none too pleased about the progress report he was being given.

"I'm trying," the young man said to the portal, "but this is more difficult than I thought it would be! Her followers know her dirty little secret now, and they're still willing to back her up!"

"Then see to it that one by one they abandon her, giving her no choice but to come to me again," his father replied. "Let her see what thankless cretins these mortals truly are."

"Well, that won't be too hard. But your random portal calls are going to get me caught! You know, if she wasn't asleep _and_ in a different section of the stable when you manifested this portal thing of yours next to me, it would have been all over!" Quicksilver feigned innocence as he looked to the portal out the corner of his eyes. "If I had the power to make these myself, I could just call you every now and then when I had a private moment to do so."

A low rumble echoed throughout the chamber where Lord Magnus sat. "Very well," he said. "When this conversation ends, the portal will enter your body and become the generating power for future portals. To create one, simply think of your target and waft your hand in midair. When your purpose for creating the portal has reached a climax, it will disappear automatically."

"Yes!" Quicksilver pumped his right fist in the air, then quickly regained composure. "Er, I mean... thank you, Lord Magnus."

"See to it that I am contacted once every three days at the latest. Otherwise, I will send one to see what you are doing."

"Yes, Lord Magnus. Thanks again! I won't fail you." The conversation came to a close and, just as the lord had said, the portal turned into a mist that entered the young man's body through his nasal passages. Quicksilver inhaled it without a moment's hesitation, then chuckled to himself over his new power. "'New perspective,' she says," he said in amusement to himself. "I just got a new power from father, and she's huddled in a dirty barn. Who's better off? I think, me." His attention was quickly brought to the sound of a twig snapping, and right away he knew that it couldn't have been an animal. Rising to his feet, he cast a glare in the direction of the sound, then started for it slowly.

Toad was stricken with panic when he saw the man coming in his direction and he turned to leap away fast; unfortunately, there was no way he could move faster than Quicksilver. By the time he faced the opposite direction, Toad found himself staring at the form-fitting leggings worn by the young man who now stood in his path of escape. "Going somewhere, Hoppera," he inquired of the boy as he folded his arms across his chest.

"I was jus--" Before he could finish his words, the poor boy found himself being pinned to a tree and held by the neck.

"Didn't think so." Quicksilver grinned as he tightened his grip around Toad's throat. "You may be a decent thief, but you're a lousy spy, so I'll go easy on you this time." His grin faded into a sneer. "Now listen up you amphibious freak. You croak to my sister and I'll snap your neck so fast you won't notice 'til your head's rolling off your shoulders! And you know I can do it before you even get your lips fixed to start a sentence." An idea struck him, restoring his devious expression. "But wait, I have a better plan." He let the boy drop to the ground and stepped a foot on his back as he bent forward to gasp for air. "Why don't you disappear? Wander off, don't give goodbyes, don't collect any supplies, and don't ever see my sister again? That way, I won't have to kill you for being a stool pigeon, and you don't have to sleep with one eye open. Huh? Huh? Sound like a plan?" His facial expression and tone became serious as he kicked the boy to the ground. "Get out of here, Hoppera. Be a good little boy and get lost. And if I or my sister ever lay eyes on you again, you'll regret it for the rest of your life."

Toad didn't even have time to get out a proper response; he was so fearful of the threat that he simply took Quicksilver's advice and went away. Moving as fast as his legs could carry him, the Hoppera headed towards the northeast and didn't stop to look back at the stable where his friends were blissfully unaware of his plight. The sly speedster took this as another victory on his part, and after he was certain that the boy wouldn't try to sneak back, he raced back into the stable to get a good night's rest.


	2. Chapter 2

**The Many Wives of General Sabretooth**

  
  


The fingers of Lord Magnus' left hand tapped in rhythm with the toe of Mystique's right boot as they waited impatiently for Sabretooth. The lord had called for this meeting days ago, giving the beastman plenty of time to arrive, but it seemed that he still needed a few extra hours to present himself. Both Magnus and Mystique's patience wore thin, and when the doors of the throne room came open they focused unsavory looks on the party entering.

Sabretooth didn't bother to humble himself or make an apology for his tardiness; he merely strode forward with a pair of large, saber-toothed tigers in tow. On the back of one tiger there sat a young girl with cheetah-like features and spotted, flowing hair. Her hands, feet and neck were shackled to chains that joined the iron collar around her mount's neck, but she maintained a poise of dignity and offered no one the pleasure of her direct attention. In fact, she remained so still that only her wavering tail gave a sign that she was actually alive. Sabretooth seemed especially proud of her company, and though Lord Magnus had nothing to say about it, Mystique couldn't help but throw her own comment into the open. "So now we see why you are tardy, General." A mixture of amusement and disgust pulled her lips back into a smug smirk. "Unfortunately this is not a dinner social. You will have to eat your latest catch outside, after we're done speaking."

The beastman grinned and licked his jagged, yellow teeth. "Already had a peasant on my way in here." The fresh blood on his animal pelt jerkin was a testament to this. "This lucky young thing is going to be my next betrothed."

Mystique shook her head, repulsed by the very idea. "Ugh! You lecherous tick factory. You're getting married _again_? Your harem already consists of a small nation of amazons."

A deep chuckle rumbled from Sabretooth's throat. "There's always room for you, Mystique." He licked his teeth as he looked her up and down.

"Huh!" She rolled her eyes at that. "Hardly. With all the fleas, I couldn't possibly squeeze in."

"That is more than enough." Lord Magnus' voice was dangerously calm and he waited until both his minions faced him before speaking again. "In the future, General, leave your fiancé where there is no possibility of her sustaining harm. That is, if you value your growing menagerie."

Sabretooth straightened his posture considerably. "Yes, Lord Magnus."

More time passed before the lord spoke again. "Days have gone by since I sent Quicksilver out to return the Scarlet Witch to our fold, and yet I sit without results."

"Lord Magnus, you know these things take time," Mystique said in a gentle tone.

"I am well aware of time's hold over things, but my patience is waning. My son's efforts to retrieve his sister are, so far, unsatisfactory, and _your_ hidden operative has yet to make a move."

"The Rogue is my best understudy," she said with a hint of pride. "If she has not moved, then it is because she sees no reason to. I trust her ability to act in a timely manner." A sneer marked her face as she picked up on the sound of deep chuckling, then she turned to see Sabretooth blatantly laughing at her words. "Did I say something to amuse you, General?"

"Obviously you don't get it, Mystique." He took time to scritch the chin of one of his tigers. "Lord Magnus wants this taken care of _yesterday_."

The sorceress's expression became indignant. "And I suppose you have a swifter course of action to offer?"

"Why tiptoe around something when you can take it head on?" Sabretooth stepped up to the base of the cone-shaped pedestal that held Lord Magnus' throne. "My harem has been itching for an opportunity to prove their loyalty to me. Let me send them out to put an end to this, once and for all."

"Hah!" Mystique brought her arms to rest across her chest and gave him a doubting look. "Last I recall, all those innocent girls you forced into wedlock were repulsed by the very sight of you. I doubt that would have changed under any circumstance."

The beastman growled like a lion, then grinned. "Their minds change quickly after a little ritualistic brainwashing."

"Well they would _have_ to be brainwashed to stay married to you," the woman muttered under her breath, well aware of the echo that still occurred.

"Not only are their minds warped," Sabretooth said as he turned to face Lord Magnus again, "but their strength and natural abilities are increased. Each one is powerful enough to take on a band of warriors without breaking a sweat! They will hunt down the Scarlet Witch and rend her limb from limb!"

"But will they bring my son back unharmed," Lord Magnus inquired. "I no longer care what happens to the Scarlet Witch, but Quicksilver is all I have left in the way of a legacy. See to it that he returns to me in tact."

"As you wish, Lord Magnus." Sabretooth licked his chops and turned to leave.

Realizing that her assignment was being taken right from under her, Mystique stepped forward and made a protest. "You can't allow that brute to send out one of his grotesque minions; all they think about is killing! Not even Quicksilver would return with all his limbs in tact!"

"If my son is harmed, then the guilty party will be dealt with," Lord Magnus replied. "Now leave me. I have much to think about."

Mystique fixed her mouth to say more, but decided against it. Her lips curled downward into a frown before she turned to walk away. She knew that letting Sabretooth upstage her would ruin her plans for the future of Asterum, so she worked on a new one to get things back under her control. As an idea rooted itself in her brain her expression bordered amusement, but with the beastman's back to her and her back to Lord Magnus, neither one of them were aware of the treacherous plans the dark witch had in store.

  
  


Toad hadn't stopped running since he received the death threat from Quicksilver, and he had managed to get considerably far on fear and adrenaline alone. With his mind full, stomach empty and legs too tired to take him any further, he finally settled down to rest in the back of a hay cart he found parked by a stretch of open road. What he didn't know was that the cart had only stopped so its driver could relieve himself in the distant bushes. So while the boy slept soundlessly, the driver returned and continued guiding his horses on their way to a distant region.

It was in the early afternoon of the next day when Toad awoke, and after a light stretch he dug himself out of the thick hay pile to take a look at his surroundings. The sky above his head was being choked by a veil of smoky, red clouds that billowed from a black volcano looming over the horizon to his right. The darkness of the land was frightfully familiar to him and when he turned to see the road ahead, his suspicions were confirmed by the presence of a nightmarish keep and the gates that surrounded it. By some mad stroke of fate, he was back in Newark--the capital city of General Sabretooth's territory. Horrid memories of the day he was first brought there came flooding back into the boy's mind, then without thinking he leaped from the cart and dashed behind a convenient boulder.

The battle-scarred field that surrounded Newark was devoid of vegetation, for the General knew that even the smallest bush would allow more than enough cover for his enemies to use against him. Only a few boulders, ditches, bones and piles of corpses could be found in the way of hiding places, but Toad didn't feel comfortable over the possibility of using any of those options. "Oh man, Toad, how'd you get yourself into this mess," he whined to himself while looking to the road. He considered making a break for it down the path he came from, but a caravan that was coming his way made him rethink that. Instead, he stayed behind the boulder and waited to see who it belonged to.

At the head of the caravan was Sabretooth, returning from his meeting with Lord Magnus. Behind him, four steel carriages followed, each being pulled by a pair of saber-toothed tigers. One of the two who were directly behind him still had the cheetah girl chained to it and when Toad saw this, he instantly became intrigued. Just by looking at her, he could tell that she was young like him, and anyone young in Sabretooth's presence was bound to be in danger. He leaned forward to get a better look as the caravan came closer, then hid himself just as it passed. One of the tigers tried to stop and focus its attention on the boulder he hid behind, but it was quickly pulled away by its yolk partner who wouldn't stand still.

Perhaps fate was forcing the boy out of his normal behavior, but Toad found himself more curious about the girl than fearful for his own safety. After the last carriage passed him, he came out of hiding and followed it to the wrought-iron gateway that marked the entrance of the fortress. When the caravan stopped to wait for the gates to open, he hunkered down and crawled under the last carriage, then used the axle of its wheels as support for himself when the caravan started moving again. Dread washed over him as he saw the base of the gates pass by, but it left as quickly as it came when he thought about the girl again.

The four carriages were taken to a garage where the saber-toothed tigers were unhitched and allowed to wander off. Toad waited until well after the last tiger left before crawling out from under the cart, then he raced for an iron doorway that opened into a thin hallway. He made short work of scaling one of the walls and--using a sticky substance he could excrete from his fingertips--started working his way down the hall using the ceiling instead of the floor. Every time he passed a guard or servant, he would flatten out against the ceiling and wait until they passed before moving again. Not only did this method get him deep within the fortress, but it also helped him listen to the whispers of some servants and find out where the girl was being kept.

"Did you see the new girl General Sabretooth brought in?"

"Yes, she's very pretty. Just like all the others used to be."

"And young. They say the ritual warps them better the younger they are."

"Perhaps, but you can't really tell. Besides, I think it's the spirit of the individual that does it. The more spirit, the more they are warped."

"True, true. That's why General Sabretooth picks the ones who always try to escape. If they manage to get out of the northwest tower at least once, he knows they're worth having as a bride."

Being on the southwest side of the fort, Toad didn't waste any time crawling along the ceiling of several hallways to reach the northwest tower. 

  
  


Since the morning she woke up to find him missing, the Scarlet Witch had lead her group in a search for Toad. All she could think of was how he must have still been upset over her family heritage and taken off out of fear. The boy had always seemed overly fearful to her, which is why she spent so much energy caring for him. He had become her little brother, and if he was upset with her, she wanted at least to give him a proper explanation before they officially parted ways.

Using Blooper like a hunting dog, the witch and her friends made it far to the northeast in their efforts to find the runaway thief. The trail went cold at a section of open road far north near the edge of Machusa territory. While Sky Fire and her pet checked the road for other clues, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch took time to rest on a fallen log near the roadside. "You know you're wasting your time, don't you," the man asked his sister with a bitter expression. "That Hoppera's taken off and he isn't coming back! We shouldn't even be looking for him if he doesn't want to be found."

"I don't want him to come back if he doesn't want to," Scarlet replied with an equally bitter expression. "I just want to explain things so he isn't confused."

"Who cares if he is? Hopperas are always confused; it's in their nature or some crap like that." Her brother hunched forward and frowned at the dirt and scuffs that marred his fine boots. "Back at the castle we have a few of them as servants, and they're always spilling food and dropping stuff." His lips twisted into a cruel smirk of amusement. "They're pretty jumpy, too. Sneaking up on them is always good for a laugh."

The Scarlet Witch sneered in disgust. "How can you be so pitiless?" She shook her head. "Nevermind. I keep forgetting where you've been for the past nine years."

"Hey, for the past nine years, I've been enjoying my life," Quicksilver stated bluntly. "What have _you_ been doing?"

"Helping others enjoy theirs." The woman rose to her feet and stepped away from the log. "Ever since we left that stable, you've been doing nothing but bellyaching over what a waste of time this is." Her eyes narrowed. "Every mile you've had a new reason for his leaving, and for why we should abandon our search. If I didn't know better, Quicksilver, I'd say you had something to do with this in the first place."

Though it seemed like his deed was being found out, her brother showed no signs of alarm. "I'm just trying to remind you that you're supposed to be showing me what a joy it is to do something for the good of it. So far, I find no joy in this, sis. And if you don't deliver soon, you know what our little bet calls for on your part."

Her eyes thinned to horizontal slits at his words. He was right, of course, but she still didn't want to abandon her quest for Toad. A call from Sky Fire tore the twins away from their argument, and they turned to face her as she came to them mounted on the back of Blooper.

"Got good news, bad news and even worse news for you, Scarlet," the dragonrider began. "Bad news is, Toad's trail really does end here. Good news is, where Toad's trail ends, the scent of a hay cart begins. Blooper and I think he must have hitched a ride in the back of the cart to keep going."

"Great, then we might be able to catch up with him now," the witch replied.

"So what's the even worse news," Quicksilver asked carelessly. "Did the cart burst into flames a few miles down the road?"

"No," Sky Fire replied, her dragon emphasizing her irritation with a growl of its own. "The even worse news is that the cart path reeks of Newark. It must've been one of the delivery carts taking a shipment to the fort."

Scarlet's brow furrowed. "No, that can't be right. Why would Toad go back to Newark?"

"Maybe the little freak's gonna offer himself up to Sabretooth for some physical training," Quicksilver said with a smirk. "Or dinner. Hoppera legs are said to be a delicacy to some cannibalistic cultures."

The two women took great pains to ignore his comments. "Blooper's nose don't lie," Sky Fire stated. "Wether he wanted to or not, it looks like Toad ended up on his way to Newark."

"Well he might have changed paths between here and there," Scarlet said afterwards. "We'll take to the air on Blooper's back and continue to follow the scent. If we don't pick up a new trail of Toad's before reaching the outskirts of the deadlands, then we'll know he's in there somewhere."

"Right." The two sat--one behind the other--on the crook of Blooper's neck, then the dragon unfurled its wings and started taking off.

Realizing that he was about to be left behind, Quicksilver made a quick leap and latched onto one of Blooper's talons. The young man dangled haphazardly while the dragon followed the dusty highway east.

  
  


A single door of heavy steel sat atop the spiral staircase within the northwest tower of the General's keep. Behind that door was a small room where his latest fiancé was being kept. The room was dressed in silk drapes and fancy pillows that hid its stone cold and sturdy build, though not even the finest lace could hide the presence of the chains attached to iron stakes in the floor that kept the girl from running off. In the center of the room she sat on a large pillow made of zebra hide and kept her gaze stalwart while she waited to know for certain that she was completely alone. When the click of the doors at the base of the tower finally reached her ears, she immediately set to work tugging, gnawing on and kicking at the stakes in the floor. She even hefted the bust of a tiger above her head and tried dropping it on the links of her chains, but the object was not as sturdy as it was heavy, and it broke into several pieces after just one toss. The girl sighed wearily as she fell back on her pillow; her attempt to escape was not going as she had planned it to.

Just as she was about to make another try, her ears picked up on the vague sound of grunting and pebbles dropping. She sat up and glanced at the only, open window within her room, then slid off the pillow and crawled over to it. Her mismatched eyes--one green, the other blue--peeked over the base, then she gasped as she saw a gangly, grey hand feel its way around on the stone. When another hand came up it made her eyes widen, then slowly she reached one of her furry fingers out to touch one of the hands. The hand flinched, the girl screamed, then she crawled back onto her perch and brandished a pillow. "Whoever you are, I'm armed!"

Toad leaped onto the edge of the window and let out a sigh of relief. "Man, that is one Hell of a climb," he said before sitting on the windowsill and letting his legs dangle above the room floor. "Of course, all those jagged spikes and barbed grooves in the tower wall didn't exactly help, but here I am."

The girl stared at him, slowly lowering her pillow. "Who... are you?"

"Me?" He grinned sheepishly and started playing with his fingers. "Well, y'know... I was just... in the neighborhood... and... thought I'd drop by." His humble and childish way of fidgeting amused her, though she didn't show it right away.

"What are you doing here," the girl asked him. "You're a Hoppera, right? Aren't all you Hopperas supposed to be out learning how to be good servants to Lord Magnus?"

Toad frowned and shook his head. "I don't serve Magnus. I don't serve anyone!"

"You don't?" She sighed. "What a relief. I thought you were one of Sabretooth's spies trying to test my loyalty..." Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Are you _sure_ you're not one of Sabretooth's trainees?" She tightened her grip around the edge of a pillow.

"I was... once upon a time." The boy shrugged and slid down onto the floor. "But I got away. What's your name?"

Before speaking again, the girl listened in the direction of the door for any signs of servants on their way up to see her. "I, am Princess Felicity of Laskan." Her posture straightened with dignity before she remembered the status of her kingdom. "At least I used to be," she said as she slouched. "Now, I'm just the fifty-fifth fiancé to General Sabretooth."

Toad smirked. "Ah, the big five-five. Very special. By the looks of it, though, you don't wanna be here."

"I don't!" Felicity gave her chains another tug. "I want to get out of here so bad, but, the last time I tried to escape, he made a game out of catching me! He'll probably just do it again..."

"Not if we go out the window," the boy said as he fished around in the leg of his right boot, then moments later he produced a silver lockpick. "See, I'll just use this to open your locks, then you can cling to my back while I go down the tower wall." He hopped over to the edge of her pillow, then knelt down and started picking at one of the chains' locks. "You don't weigh that much, do you? I know some girls hate to answer that question, but I gotta know how much effort I'm gonna have to put in my stickiness."

"Shhhhh!" The girl's tail stiffened along with the rest of her body as she picked up on the sound of movement below. The distant sound of heavy-falling footsteps on cobalt suggested that someone was coming up to check on her! "You've got to get out of here," she whispered to Toad, shoving him away from her pillow.

"But what about your locks," he asked aloud, not knowing of the approaching danger.

"Someone's on their way up here," the Princess continued to whisper. "Go! Get out before you get in trouble!"

When her words finally hit him, Toad leaped onto the windowsill, then started climbing down. Halfway out of sight he looked back at her and whispered, "I'll be right out here! When it's safe, let me know and I'll come back to get you!"

"Fine, fine, just go!" The girl waved him away, then turned to face the room door. Out the corner of her eye she saw that the lockpick had been left behind and when she reached out to grab it, the latch on the door clicked.

With a shove, the door swung open to reveal General Sabretooth. Seeing his bride halfway off her perch was a little curious to him, but his face registered amusement rather than confusion. "What's this? Striking a precarious pose just for me?"

Felicity grinned sheepishly as she slowly bent her extended arm at the elbow and brought her fist up to rest against the side of her head. The lockpick had been concealed nicely in her fingers and would remain there until she could find a perfect opportunity to hide it further. "Hello," she said in an innocent purr. "You... like?"

Sabretooth's look of amusement remained, but as he took another step into the room, the scent of something foreign wafted into his nostrils and his expression fell. He sniffed the air suspiciously to get a better idea of what he was smelling, then looked down at the girl with narrowed eyes. "Has someone been here?"

She sat up slowly, clasping her hands together in her lap. "No one important..."

He sniffed the air again, moving around the pillow she sat on. "A Hoppera's been here. What for?"

Felicity's eyes searched the room as if a reason would present itself. Her mouth opened to speak, but all that came out was air. After a while, she finally gathered up some courage and poised herself to seem dignified. "So one of those annoying amphibians wandered up here. What, am I not allowed to have company? I should be able to talk to someone every once in a while."

Sabretooth stopped his pace in front of the window and turned to look at her. Gradually, his upper lip pulled into a sneer that, in turn, became a seedy grin. "That's what I like about you, Princess," he said in an amused growl. "You got that spirit in you that always comes out when you're trying to get away with something." His palms gripped the edge of the window as he leaned against it, facing inward. "Talk about anything interesting?"

The girl faltered, losing her look of dignity as she fished around in her mind for an answer. "Er... I... ah..."

The General's eyes narrowed, but his grin remained. "Can't remember? Well then." In a swift motion he twisted sideways and reached outside the window. "Why don't we ask HIM!" His right hand latched onto the dirty mop of hair that belonged to Toad, and with little effort he hefted the boy into the room and held him several inches off the floor. Toad flailed for a few moments before wrapping his hands around the arm that held him to keep his hair from being ripped out. Meanwhile, Felicity cried out in terror as her means of escaping had been discovered.

"SO!" Sabretooth's voice came out in a thunderous growl. "You managed to crawl out from under your rock and return to me, huh? What's the matter? That little runaway not giving you enough attention?"

Felicity scrambled forward and gripped one of his pantlegs. "No! Don't hurt him, please!" She searched her mind for something meaningful to say. "If... if you love me, you'll let me keep him!" 

The growl that resonated from the General's throat stopped as he focused a dark-eyed gaze on his bride. Once again his lips pulled back in a grin, only this time it was accompanied by a deep and disconcerting laugh. "Love you?" He laughed harder the second time. "I don't marry for _love_. I marry for SPORT!" With a grunt he kicked the girl aside, then stomped towards the room door. "Come along, little frog. You can have a family reunion in the dungeon, and see how much your relatives have excelled in their training under me." All Toad could do was thrash his arms and legs pitifully while he was carted off.

Felicity crawled across the floor rapidly, stopping only because the chains wouldn't allow her to go the full distance to the door. When it slammed shut and she heard the latch click, all of her body went limp against the stones beneath her. "That poor Hoppera," she thought to herself. "He was actually going to save me...." Her brows knit together as she thought of his fate, then she looked back at the lock he had started to pick. "Maybe... just maybe I can save us both." With newfound determination, she reached for a slit in the pillow where she hid the lockpick. Regardless of the pleasure it would give her husband-to-be, she was determined to escape again.

  
  


A light pitch was all it took to toss Toad to the center of a dark and circular room. "Welcome back your brother," the General said to the shadows. "If he survives the quality time he spends with you, his training will begin tomorrow!"

As the door clicked shut, Toad rushed forward to cling to it; however, when he made contact with something, it wasn't the cold iron that the door was made of. His fingers touched fabric and flesh-both of which felt marred and dusty. When he stood up straight he saw a pair of green and glowing orbs at his eye level. The orbs blinked once, then he found himself being shoved to the floor. "Oof!" As he crawled backwards on his hands and knees, he saw several more pairs of glowing orbs looking down at him from the walls. They were all eyes; each pair belonged to a different creature that lurked in the darkness. Toad shuddered at the sound of a collective hiss, then focused on the source of a voice that was raspy and light.

"The Toad is back, yo."

"Yo, the Toad has returned," another voice chimed in. Both were quite familiar to him.

"Newt? Sal?" The names came out of Toad's mouth with a hesitant ring. "That you guys?"

One pair of eyes left the upper portion of the dungeon wall as its owner landed near the boy. "Look, yo. The Toad remembers us."

"The Toad remembers us," the hidden Hopperas said in unison.

"You guys! You gotta help me get out of here," Toad demanded desperately. "We gotta make a break for it! There's this girl, and she needs our help!"

"Why should she peep the first aid, yo," someone hissed from behind him.

Another voice came from his right. "Yeah, we ain't gotta do jack 'cept train yo' pampered ass back down to the flo' where it belongs!"

"Big G Sabretooth said we could spend quality time with you," the first voice stated. "That's exactly what we plan to do."

Toad's face flushed, but the drain of color couldn't be seen by any of the Hopperas who leaped down and surrounded him. Nor would they have cared if they saw it. The final generation of a carefree jungle tribe had been tortured to insanity. The majority of their thoughts consisted of sharing that pain with whatever creature they could get away with harming. This boy who had escaped torture was like a cruel reminder of the past they could never relive. For them, the best way to deal with a bad memory was to destroy its source. Toad knew it, too, which is why his first action was to leap for a high portion of the circular wall and remain as much out of his former tribe's reach as possible. He then yelled at the top of his lungs, hoping to summon some sort of assistance from God-only-knows where:

"I know they say that no one can hear you scream down here, but, HEEEEEEELP!"

  
  


The trio of Sky Fire, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch arrived at the mountain range to the south of Newark's battlefield. To the witch's dislike, the cart's trail continued into the fortress below them with no scent of the Toad deviating from it at any time. This meant she would have to face the strongest warriors in Lord Magnus' army just to save her friend. Anyone else would have thought it wasn't worth the effort, since the odds were completely against her, but the Scarlet Witch would be nothing if not determined. After Blooper landed to let the twins off its back, the witch turned to speak to its rider.

"Listen to me, Sky Fire. I want you to go get Captain Remington and a few members of his crew. Tell them I said we're going to break into Sabretooth's fortress."

Her brother was quick to protest. "Are you crazy?! The majority of our dad's army lives there! They'll tear you guys limb from limb before you get a foot in the door!"

"Since you won't rush in there and find out where Toad is, then we have to do this the slow and dangerous way," she said with a sour expression, then looked back up at Sky Fire. "Do you know where the Captain is?"

"I know where he should be," the dragonrider replied. "Last time he sent me a letter he was on the docks of Atlantis. Granted, that was two months ago, but that at least means he's on that side of the world."

Scarlet sighed. "Well, go find him and bring him back here. We'll wait for you, but if you get here and don't see us, you'll know we went ahead."

"Gotcha." Sky Fire tapped her mount on the side of its neck, signaling for it to take off.

After the Dragon became a distant speck in the rusted sky, the Scarlet Witch settled on a rock to think about her next course of action. Meanwhile, Quicksilver took their time alone as an opportunity to further scrutinize his sister's way of life.

"You must have taken some French in your spare time, Scarlet, 'cause you keep saying 'we,' over and over again." The young man brought his arms to rest across his chest while he settled on a rock not far from her. "There is no way I'm going in there to save your little frog-faced charge!"

"What have you to worry about," she asked with a frown. "Since you're considered Lord Magnus' only heir, they wouldn't do anything to hurt you. In fact, you could save us all this trouble by simply walking in there and demanding they let Toad go." Her expression turned suspicious. "You made a deal with me to help me on my crusade to destroy Lord Magnus' empire. Why won't you help me now?"

"Because this has nothing to do with putting an end to our father's empire! It has to do with you, wasting your time on one life!"

"I could use all the help I can get, Quicksilver, and that one life just happens to be part of it!" Scarlet focused her attention solely on her brother. This was unfortunate, because several figures were moving up the mountain towards them. The figures kept well to the shadows and hid behind the jagged edges of the mountainside as they came closer and closer to their target. 

"Have you been so tainted by him that you can't see what's going on around you?" The Scarlet Witch motioned to the distant fortress. "Look at the people who make up Lord Magnus' army. If they're not possessed by some demonic power, then they've been terrorized so much that they're afraid to do anything against him!" She paused. "What about you?"

Quicksilver's brows raised high on his head. "What about me?" He was also oblivious to the presence of anything making its way up the mountain.

"Has Lord Magnus put the fear of his awesome power in you?" His sister rose to her feet and took two steps towards him. "Has he made you aware of what it means to betray him? Has he told you of the many assassins he's sent after me--of the bounty hunters that have come my way with promise of great riches should they bring my head back to him?"

The man's stoic expression wavered as he struggled to think up a proper retort. "Well... He was pissed with you for running off! I mean, I was mad, too... for a while." He regained his composure. "But hey. This time he sent _me_ to get you, and I'm not out to kill you."

"No, you're out to do worse," Scarlet said as she turned away from him. "You're going to try and drag me back to that miserable haven so--" She stopped as she finally caught sight of something moving below her. "Quicksilver, look!"

The twins stood together and backed up a few steps as they took in the sight of many creatures coming up the side of the mountain. These creatures were the wives of Sabretooth: hulking, disfigured and magically warped women whom the general had found worth tainting. All fifty-four of them were making their way towards the twins with a bloodthirsty look in their eyes. They were a frightening thing to see, but the Scarlet Witch never backed down from anything so easily. As the wives closed the rocky distance between them, she powered up her energy for a spell she intended to use on all of them at once. But, what neither twin could see was the meddling of a certain sorceress who was still bent on having things go her way.

On another cliff of the mountain range, Mystique stood far enough away so she could not be detected. Her crimson lips pulled into a devious smirk as she watched the attack, and her fingers played with the handle of a black staff. Before the two groups could collide, she raised the staff above her head and chanted, "Let the wives I see from where I stand, be immune to magic from the witch's hand!" The bauble fixed into the staff gave off a green glow and in that second, an aura gathered over each wife that faded as quickly as it appeared. The act was too quick for the Scarlet Witch to catch as she sent a full blast of energy in their direction.

A wave of blue washed over the wives and each one stopped to shield their eyes from its brightness. When the wave subsided, they all stood unaffected by what should have injured them greatly. It was a shock to everyone on the mountainside, though the shock only lasted a few seconds in the wives before they continued their trek.

"Not a bad little bath you gave them, there, sis," Quicksilver commented, "but... shouldn't it have, I dunno, KILLED them?"

Confused, Scarlet took a step back. "I don't understand. They're not even bruised a little!"

"Everything's going according to plan," Mystique said to herself as she pointed the staff in the direction of the wives. "Fog, be more than trick of mind. Cover the mountain; make them blind!"

A veil of dust lifted off the mountain and turned into a haze. No one, not even the wives could see two inches in front of their faces. The twins stumbled through the fog and quickly became separated. But even with this detriment, the wives continued their trudge to make an assault. They relied on their other senses to help them seek out one or the other, and while they avoided clashing with Quicksilver when they found him, each wife tried their hand at attacking the Scarlet Witch.

"Scarlet, Scarlet, where are you," the brother called to his twin; however, it took her a while to answer.

"Trying not to get my head taken off," she called in between dodging claws and fists. "Where did this fog come from? Can't you stir it up and get rid of it?"

Quicksilver stretched one arm in front of himself, then twirled it rapidly in a circular motion. Despite his effort, the fog didn't move. "It won't budge! This stuff isn't natural."

"You just figured that out? Follow the sound of my voice! We have to get out of here!"

"Coming!" The man was used to darting at the drop of a hat, but with the mist almost blinding him, he had to move at a snail's pace to keep himself from tripping. He had already become aware that the wives weren't out to get him, so he didn't worry about stumbling into one of them. His goal was to reach his sister and try to use his influence to keep the wives from hurting her; unfortunately, his goal would not be achieved. Using more magic, Mystique joined the confusion in the fog and changed her form to resemble one of Sabretooth's wives. She enchanted herself so she could see through the veil, then calmly made her way behind the male twin.

"Scarlet?" Quicksilver groped at the fog, then stopped as he felt a hand grip his left shoulder. "Si--AUGH!" He felt the force of something pass through him--he didn't want to believe that it had happened. But, when a jolt of pain shot through his body, he couldn't help but venture his gaze downward. The hand of the false wife was sticking through his midsection, and only while shoving him to the ground did she remove it. With a job well done, Mystique disappeared as fast as she came, and the fog settled back to dust on the mountainside.

"Quicksilver?" While the wives were distracted by the sudden gain in visibility, the Scarlet Witch raced to where she last heard her brother's voice. When she saw him laying face-down with the hole in his midsection, her face flushed of all color before she fell to her knees next to him. "QUICKSILVER!!!" She gripped his shoulders, turned him over, then pulled his head to her lap. The poor man gasped for air and stressed his face with the pain he couldn't express in words.

The wives observed this, but didn't take the opportunity to attack the Scarlet Witch. All of their attention was on the dying man and the fact that they were ordered not to harm him in any way. "Someone has screwed up," one woman declared, then turned her attention on the others. "Someone has screwed up!"

"Someone with a death wish," another hissed, her bloodshot eyes scanning the harem.

"I bet it was _you_," one accused another, giving her a hard shove. "You're always getting us in trouble!"

"More likely it was _you_ tripping over your own feet," the other barked back, then leaped from the ground to maul her accuser. This began a series of accusations and fights that broke out amongst all of the wives of Sabretooth, taking their attention away from their mission to destroy the runaway twin.

Scarlet was oblivious to all of their infighting; she was too busy trying to hold in tears and keep her brother from drifting off. "Quicksilver... Quicksilver, please. Say something--anything. Just don't fall unconscious!"

Blood splurted from her brother's lips as he coughed. "Scar...let..." His left hand reached up and latched onto her right wrist. "He... told me, I was... immortal..."

"Damn that man for making you so careless," the witch thought to herself, then spoke aloud. "Stay with me, brother. I'll get you out of this." She looked up and saw the wives fighting each other; beyond them was a small cave in a lower part of the mountainside. "Talk to me," she told her brother as she positioned herself to start dragging his body. "Just keep talking, so I know you're still there."

"Hard... to breathe," Quicksilver rasped, then winced as he felt himself being moved. "It hurts... do you, have to... do that?"

"I'm not leaving you here to die. Now shut up and be dragged with some dignity." Scarlet's lips registered a bit of amusement, but that quickly left her as she put all her effort into pulling her brother along the ground.

  
  


As the witch managed to get halfway past the quarreling pack of women, more than one of Sabretooth's wives finally noticed her attempt at an escape. "HEY," one wife called to the others, "she's getting away!" They clambered to cut off her escape, forming a wide circle around her.

Brandishing spears, two stepped forward and prepared to stab her to death. "We failed to keep the boy safe," said the largest of them, "but at least we'll get rid of the girl."

"Ye'll nay succeed in that quest!" The declaration came from a man in full armor who was flying through the air as though he had been catapulted. He brandished his sword high above his head and when he landed, the blade was plunged into the back of the wife he landed closest to. With a twist of his wrist, he turned the blade in the woman's body, then yanked it diagonally so it left a jagged cut in her midsection. The monster cried out before she collapsed and all attention quickly fell on the armored stranger.

Scarlet was amazed; she had never seen this man before, yet his attire was all too familiar. His bearded face and fiery red mane were foreign to her, but his silver-and-gold armor, and the blade--with its diamond, obsidian and gold enchantments--all reminded her of the knight she had robbed over a week ago. Was he of the Terra Firma? The answer was yes, and it was presented by the sudden shake of the ground beneath their feet.

The next knight to come up the mountainside was Sir Lancelot, mounted on the back of his steed. The horse was fully armored now and its eyes glowed with a yellow light. When the knight saw the condition of Scarlet and her brother, he immediately unsheathed his sword, raised it high, then declared, "Knights of the Terra Firma, ATTACK!!" In the next instant, the mountainside thundered with the beat of hooves as thirty-six knights and their mounts rode up to join the action. Each horse galloped as though it were running in a straight path; not once did they stumble on their way up the rocky terrain. When the wives of Sabretooth finally realized what was going on, they turned from their mission and raced to meet the challenge that approached them.

One after the other, the knights leaped from their mounts and into the fray. Most of the wives were unarmed, and while they held off their attackers skillfully on their own, it was only a matter of time before each of them succumbed to the blades of the Terra Firma. Lancelot hacked his way through the brutes in order to reach the Scarlet Witch, and when he finally cleared the way to her, he stopped to give her a knowing smirk. Lost in a mixture of awe and confusion, the witch didn't even notice that her cheeks were turning red; however, whatever feelings that were surfacing quickly dropped as the knight was suddenly broadsided by one of the wives and taken out of her range of sight.

"Lancelot!" Scarlet looked down at Quicksilver, then at the surrounding battle. How she wished she could join the fray! But she knew she had to keep up with her twin. Relief washed over her as she saw the knight shove his way past his fellow guilders to reach her once more; his appearance was slightly more ragged, but he smiled nonetheless.

"How fare thee, Scarlet Witch?"

The woman's lips tugged in an effort to smile. "A little worse for wear, but I'll live." She kneeled beside her brother as sadness washed over her again. "But... I think he's dying."

"Oh?" Lancelot dropped to one knee and examined the young man's wound. "Hmmm..." He removed his right gauntlet and placed a hand on Quicksilver's chest. "Nay... Nay, he does not belong to the earth yet." He slipped his gauntlet back onto his hand as he rose to his feet, then he called across the mountainside, "Spearhold! Flailand! Come hither!" Two knights turned their attention from the bodies they stood over and joined him near the twins. "Gather thy mounts and secure this man for transport. We shall keep him with us as we continue our travels." He whistled for his own horse and mounted it as soon as it came. "Care for a lift?" His hand extended towards the Scarlet Witch. "To where dost thou travel?"

She was reluctant to leave her brother, but when she saw the knights take hold of him, some reassurance touched her mind as she accepted the hand that was offered. "Sabretooth's fortress," she replied as she was pulled behind him on his horse. "Toad's there, and we have to rescue him. But... how did you know where to find me?"

"When I found you not within the forest, I simply questioned Mother Earth on your whereabouts." Lancelot gave his horse a light tap and it started up the mountainside. "She knows where everyone is, at any given moment, that has contact with the blessed ground."

"Oh." Scarlet looked back at the three-dozen knights that were following on their own mounts. "But... wait. We can't just go there; we need to have a plan! There's a whole army stationed at that fortress!"

"Yea," Lance replied, "and there is a whole army coming with us to meet them." He motioned behind them. "Look."

Scarlet looked further down the mountain and her jaw dropped as she saw what was there: Several hundred knights were waiting to come up the smoother paths of the mountain. Some flew banners of gold and bronze, which were the colors of the Terra Firma guild. The witch couldn't believe she was seeing so many people willing to fight for her cause; it was a dream she had long had, but never thought possible. A feeling of hope vaguely touched her soul, but was quickly replaced with worry as she saw the two knights who rode with her brother on a stretcher between their horses. In turn, the feeling of worry melted away as she felt her hand being touched by one of Lancelot's. "Fear not, fair Scarlet," the knight stated. "We will rescue your friend, and take care of your brother."

To be taken care of.... To have all of her problems near solving. It was a comfort Wanda was glad to finally achieve.

  
  


"PIPE DOWN OVER THERE!"

All of the tainted Hoppera gasped and backed away from one side of the dark room. A familiar and fear-inspiring voice was on the other side of the wall, but it wasn't Sabretooth's. Toad recognized it as well, and while he kept one eye on his former tribe, he made his way to that side of the cell and put an ear to the stone. "Hello?"

"DIDN'T I SAY PIPE DOWN? DON'T MAKE ME COME OVER THERE!"

A few Hopperas screamed at the threat and backed further into the shadows. Finally, Toad remembered who the voice belonged to. "Blob! Blob, is that you?"

Silence reigned for a few seconds. "Toad? What're you doing here?"

The boy was relieved to hear the voice of a friend. "Long story, man. What're you doing in Sabretooth's dungeon?"

"Came to the Queen's port town just as General Sabretooth sent troops to raid it. The Captain ordered us to fall back, but you know me, heh. I like to wreck stuff. So I ended up here." The Blob laughed. "It's pretty fun, though. They kept trying to torture me, but after a while they decided to use me to test their army on occasion."

"Heh. Why waste money on punching bags when you got someone invulnerable to physical attacks?" Toad started to chuckle, but his memory of the Princess took that thought away. "Hey, Blob! You gotta help me get outta here!"

"Why? This place is awesome, man! I get tons of action everyday!"

"You'll get plenty of action helping me escape! See there's this girl, and Sabretooth wants her to marry him, but she doesn't--"

"Oh, _I see_. It's a _girl_ issue, huh?" The Blob laughed again. "So what's this girl like, huh? Is she hot?"

"It doesn't matter, man," Toad yelled. "Look, we gotta save her before Sabretooth turns her into one of those ugly things he calls his wives! You don't wanna see another one of those things created, now do you? Besides, I'm gonna need some muscle to get out of here and get past any guards that might be lurkin'. You like to beat up guards, don't you?"

"Sure as Hell do, man. Okay, okay. I'll get you out, but you owe me big time for this. I was havin' a nice vacation from ship work by bein' a prisoner here! Now stand back, or you might get crushed."

The boy crawled along the circular wall of his cell, making sure he was nowhere near the side where his friend was. Moments later, the room shook and a couple of bricks loosened on the wall as the Blob slammed into it from the other side. The tainted Hopperas cried out with worry, and when another slam created a big hole in the wall, they screamed and huddled together in fear. Light from the adjacent cell allowed Toad to see the condition of his former tribe and he no longer felt fearful of them; instead, he felt sorry. Their bodies were tortured, bruised and mangled from the harsh treatment at the hands of the General. When they gazed up at the Blob's rotund form, their eyes told how truly young and hurt they were. Toad moved out the hole to stand near his friend, but soon after he turned and glanced back at the cowering Hopperas.

"Hey... Years ago, when the Scarlet Witch came and rescued me, I asked you guys to come with. But you were too scared to move." He squatted and beckoned to them with a hand. "Don't be scared now. Come with me!"

"We can't go, yo," a thin, Hoppera girl whined. "Big G'll stomp us into frog paste!"

The Blob slapped his large, leather-dressed belly. "Hey, he'll have to get through me, first, and you guys know first-hand how impossible that is."

All of the Hopperas exchanged looks of uncertainty, then turned to face the hole. "Come on," Toad said as he continued to coax them out. "This is your chance to be free!" Once again the Hopperas looked between each other, and after a while they crept out into the larger cell. The light of the cell's torches irritated their eyes, but they quickly got over it.

"Yo, what now," a small boy asked.

The Blob gave his reply by turning to the cell door and, with a swift kick, sent it flying into the wall across the hall of the dungeon. "Now, we go save Toad's girlfriend."

"She's NOT my girlfriend," Toad declared as he leaped onto his friend's shoulder. "Now come on! She's being held in the northwest tower."

"Right. To the northwest tower! For Toad's girlfriend."

The boy groaned while Blob began a brisk stride through the halls of the keep. Though they were hesitant to leave the safety of their cell, the remaining members of the Hoppera tribe followed closely behind, constantly keeping an eye out for any sign of guards or spies.

  
  


The fortress was unusually quiet that day. As the escapees made it further towards the northwest tower, they noticed that no guard or servant could be seen anywhere. It was like an emergency meeting of some sort had been called. When they found the dining hall void of any creature gorging itself on the spoils of war, they knew that something had to have been happening around the keep.

"It's quiet," Toad muttered as he looked around. "Too quiet."

"Yeah, and I don't smell nothin' bein' cooked," the Blob added. "Wonder what's goin' on?"

All of them turned their attention to a door on a far side of the room where they could hear the pattering sound of oncoming feet. The Hopperas hid behind the large man while they waited to see what was coming. When the running stopped, the door opened partway and in rushed Princess Felicity, free from the chains that had bound her to her room. With great effort, she shoved the door closed and turned a latch on its handle to lock it, then she slumped against it and took time to rest.

"There she is!" Toad's declaration startled the poor girl, but when she saw who it was, she felt nothing but relief.

"Toad!" The Princess rushed over to greet the group. "I'm so glad to see you! How did you get out of the dungeon? And who are all these people with you?"

The boy motioned to his friends. "Princess, I'd like to you meet Blob. He's our muscle."

"You the gal, eh," Blob said as he looked her over. "Heh. Didn't know you had jungle fever, Toad."

"Shut up, all right? Geez!" Toad rolled his eyes, then continued his introduction with each Hoppera waving as their name was called. "This is Sal, Newt, Frog, Axo, Croc--" He stopped as he heard something pound on the other side of the door.

"I'd like to meet you all, really," Felicity said, her voice gaining a hint of urgency, "but we have to get out of here! I escaped, and now Sabretooth's--" Before she could offer any suitable explanation, the door on the far end of the dining hall flew open and there stood the General. He was grinning at the prospect of catching up to his bride, but when the sight and scent of the escaped prisoners hit him, a look of pure malice washed over his face.

The tainted Hopperas cried out fearfully and held each other tight as they hid behind the Blob. Toad felt just as terrified as they did, but couldn't find the motivation to move from where he was perched on his friend's shoulder.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING OUT OF YOUR CELLS," Sabretooth bellowed as he took several steps into the dining hall.

The Blob grinned at the opportunity and positioned himself to meet the challenge head-on. "All right, this is what I'm talkin' about! Let's get it on!"

"No," Felicity shrieked. "We have to get out of here!"

"She's right, man," Toad stated. "We gotta get my clique to safety before we try to take on the General!"

The Blob groaned. "Man, you guys are no fun." Nevertheless, he turned and motioned for the Hopperas to go back down the hall they came from. "GO! The entrance ain't far from here!"

A growl resonated from Sabretooth's throat as he watched them run. "SABERS!" After he bellowed, three of his enormous, saber-toothed tigers leaped from the darkness of the hall behind him, then raced after the escapees. "RIP THEM APART!"

  
  


The cries of the Hopperas were full of despair as they leaped and ran ahead of the Blob, taking his direction on which way to turn in the twisting hallways of the fortress. With Todd's help, Felicity had managed to climb on the man's spacious back and catch a ride as he tromped along. For one so seemingly out of shape, the Blob moved with the speed of a herd animal, and his breathing never became ragged. He kept up fairly well with the Hopperas, but the group was still not moving fast enough to escape the saber-toothed tigers. When Toad looked behind his friend, he saw the three beasts closing the distance between them quickly.

"Blob! They're gaining on us!"

The man stopped and turned to face the tigers. "You guys keep goin'! Make the next left and the entrance should be right down the hall there!" His face set into a stern expression. "I'll handle these pussycats."

Without a word of argument, Felicity and Toad leaped from his back and raced to join the tainted Hopperas in their escape. By the time they made it to the turn, the saber-toothed tigers were already attacking the Blob. Their clawing and biting did nothing but mar his leather jerkin and wrist guards. His skin remained unscathed, and their attempts to tackle him to the ground were denied. This continued for a few moments before he finally fought back.

The Blob hardly put any effort into grabbing two tigers by their sabers and slamming them against the walls of the keep. Then, he delivered a swift kick to the final tiger's head and sent it sliding down the hall. "Too easy," he said to himself as he turned to catch up with the others.

Just outside the keep's main entrance, Toad, Felicity and the young Hopperas had stopped and when the Blob caught up to them, he found out why. All the guards of Sabretooth's keep were waiting in a semi-circle to greet them. Earlier, the General had sent them outside to catch the Princess if she managed to make it that far. It seemed that his plan had worked.

"What are we going to do," Felicity asked as she backed close to the Blob.

Toad's eyes searched the area for an answer, then he back flipped onto his friend's shoulder. "Blob! Charge 'em!"

The large man grinned as he slapped his belly. "Thought you'd never ask." He motioned for the Hopperas to stand aside. "Comin' through!"

Before the charge began, Toad once again helped Felicity onto the Blob's back. "Hold on, Princess! We're in for a ride!"

"Are you sure this is safe," she asked as she dug her claws into the leather of the Blob's jerkin.

"Not really," the boy admitted, "but it's the fastest way out!"

After stomping the ground once with each foot, the Blob rushed at the guards and easily shoved aside any who were standing in his way. The unfortunate ones fell and were caught underfoot as he bowled his way through, and the Hopperas that followed him didn't hesitate to add their own footprints to the fallen.

  
  


The freight train known as the Blob made a furious dash up the path that lead from the entrance of the keep to the gates. These gates were closed, but he ran through their wrought-iron build as if they were made of paper. And though they still couldn't believe they had made it so far, the Hopperas followed close behind.

At the entrance of the keep, Sabretooth snarled as he watched his soldiers struggle to pick themselves up off the ground. "You _imbeciles_," he roared at them. "Get up, get out there and RETRIEVE MY BRIDE! And, if any of those amphibians, or that _walking cart of fat_, happens to be with her when you find her, I WANT YOU TO TEAR THEM APART!" The soldiers wasted no time getting to their feet and racing for the battlefield.

Princess Felicity was never more excited. As the Blob continued his charge, she sat on his shoulder and turned backwards to shout, "Yeah! Thought you had me, didn't you, ugly bastard! Well you don't anymore and you never will again!" She turned her butt in the direction of the fortress and gave it a good slap. "You like? Well you can KISS IT!"

Toad looked highly amused as he watched this. "Y'know, for a princess, you sure talk like a commoner when the mood suits you." All of a sudden he found himself being wrapped in her arms and his face turned a shade of red.

"Thank you for coming to my rescue," the Princess purred. "You know, such bravery deserves at least a kiss on the cheek."

Toad's eyes widened as she leaned in for the kiss. "N-no, you don't wanna do that," he said as he tried to push her away. "Hoppera skin is poisonous to anything but other Hop--" Both he and the Princess ended up on the ground as the Blob came to a halt. They weren't even halfway across the battlefield when he decided to stop. "What's the problem," Toad asked as he climbed to his feet. "We haven't even reached the middle of the field yet!"

The Blob motioned towards the mountain range. "We may not be in the middle of the field, but we're about to be in the middle of a battle. Look!"

The mountains that stood to the west of the fortress glimmered with the presence of the knights of the Terra Firma Guild. Their horses' hooves against the hard terrain were rhythmic like the beating of a drumline as they came down the jagged pathways. Each held a stern expression, a sword in one hand and the reigns of their horses in the other. At the head of the group was Lancelot, still sharing his horse with Scarlet, and when she pointed out the group standing in plain view on the battlefield they rode ahead of the other knights to see who it was.

After hopping back onto one of Blob's shoulders, Toad squinted his eyes and peered at the approaching figures. "Hey! It's that fancy-talkin' knight from Bavil! And he's got Scarlet with him!"

The Blob glanced out along with him. "Scarlet's here? Man, looks like she brought an army with her!"

When the guards caught sight of the knights coming down the mountain, they stopped just outside the gate and looked back at their General. Sabretooth also saw the knights beyond the gate and his eyes burned with anger. He wasn't expecting an assault on his fortress, and it was an outrage that anyone thought they could oppose the Army of Magnus. The next time the General bellowed, it carried across the entire valley floor.

"ALL WHO SERVE LORD MAGNUS, ARISE, NOW, AND SMITE THOSE WHO WOULD OPPOSE HIM!"

For years the streets of Newark had been deserted; its blackened buildings stood as a testament of the once vast city population. Violent siege at the hands of Sabretooth had left it barren and burned. But, after the General made the call for his troops, the ash-ridden streets erupted with the rise of thousands. The undead, possessed and demonic--all were soldiers in Lord Magnus' dark army. What once was their eyes now burned with ghostly, tinted flames as they marched forward to meet the challenge. Some rode on the backs of skeletal and decaying beasts; all brandished wicked implements of war. The Army of Magnus filed out the gates of Newark and assembled themselves in a wide rectangle to wait for further orders.

At the base of the mountain range, all of the Terra Firma Guild assembled themselves in the same fashion. Meanwhile, Lance and Scarlet finally reached the escapees. "Toad," was the first thing the witch called out as she slid off the horse's back.

"Hey, Scarlet," the boy said as he hopped off the Blob's shoulder. "Look who I found!"

"Nice army you got there," Blob said with a smirk.

"It seems the General has conjured an army of his own," Lancelot said as he looked towards Newark. "We of the Terra Firma will meet his challenge, but all of you should procure a place of safety."

Scarlet turned to him in protest. "The others should, but I will not! I have waited too long for this moment to sit on the sidelines and watch!"

"Yeah," the Blob added, "and I've been gettin' a stiff neck from sittin' in the prison all this time! I need the exercise of a good battle!"

Lancelot laughed. "Very well." He looked to the other escapees. "What of you? Will you aid us in fighting the good fight?"

The Hopperas and the Princess exchanged glances with one another, then shook their heads rapidly at the knight. "We'll be content to watch," Felicity stated with confidence.

"Good," Lance said with a nod. "Head for the cliffs beyond the knights. It will be the safest place for you." The Hopperas and the Princess did as they were told and while they ran for cover, the knight, the witch and the Blob turned to face the waiting army.

By this time, Sabretooth had mounted a saber-toothed tiger and taken his place at the head of his army. He never wore body armor to battle, but did brandish a pair of steel claws that fit nicely over his hands. These claws had gloves that were steel-plated for his protection and talons that extended four inches from the end of each finger. The tiger he rode paced the distance in front of the Army of Magnus, stopping only so that the General could address the Terra Firma.

"Who dares oppose Lord Magnus' army?"

After Scarlet reclaimed her place on Lancelot's horse, the knight spoke out. "I dare! I, am Sir Lancelot Alvers of the Terra Firma! Your master, Lord Magnus, sent an invitation for me to join his army. This is my answer!"

Sabretooth sneered. "Is that so? Lord Magnus is not known for taking no for an answer!"

"Perhaps not, but this will be the last rejection notice he ever receives!" Lancelot drew his sword and when he raised it, the other knights of the Terra Firma did the same. "We of the Terra Firma have made a vow to uproot his hold over the world, and that uprooting begins now!"

"You think it will be that easy?" The General laughed. "Well then. Get on with it!"

"Knights of the Terra Firma!" Each knight shouted a war cry in response, then together they declared, "For Mother Earth, in all her glory!"

The hills came alive with the sound of yelling, roaring, hoofbeats and heavy feet as the two armies charged each other. It took thirty seconds for them to meet in the middle of the battlefield and when they did, the air exploded with the sound of combat. Swords and shields clashed as the front lines of each group pushed against each other furiously. When it came to the point where the individual knights could force their way through, the struggle spread out along the valley and continued with both sides putting up a reasonable fight. Still, with all the opposition being made by the Army of Magnus, and no matter how uneven the odds seemed to be, the knights of the Terra Firma Guild were winning this war. Not a one of them had fallen since the start of the battle, whereas several of Lord Magnus' forces had. This pattern didn't go unnoticed by General Sabretooth, who was working his way through the mob to reach Lancelot and the Scarlet Witch. Whole groups of his troops were falling to a simple blade swing from one Terra Firma knight, and when a knight was under the threat of attack he would simply conjure up a barrier of earth to protect himself. The General was angered greatly by this, making him more determined to reach the knight he wished to slay.

Likewise, Sir Lancelot made his way to Sabretooth by cutting systematically through his oppressors. Scarlet helped by shooting magic at whatever creatures he couldn't keep an eye on and eventually she took control of the horse as he leaped from its back and continued to battle on foot.

Somewhere deep in the skirmish, Sabretooth dismounted from his own ride and marched forward to meet Lancelot. He shoved anyone out of his way who accidentally ended up there, then his armored claws met with the blade of the knight's sword and they stood toe to toe. "Gaze upon your army, General," Lance said through gritted teeth. "They are _losing_!"

"The Army of Lord Magnus _never_ loses," Sabretooth snarled, then shoved him away.

The knight stumbled several steps backwards, but managed to stay on his feet; however, before he could rush forward to resume the clash, several fighting groups wandered into the space between him and the General. "Everything that comes from the earth, soon must return to it, General," he called over the noise. "Most of your warriors belong to the ground, so we knights of the Terra Firma hold dominion over them!"

Sabretooth roared like a lion, then glared at the battle that surrounded him. All of a sudden his malicious expression changed to a grin. "Why don't we find someplace a little less crowded and continue this," he shouted, then whistled for one of his beasts. A saber-toothed tiger plowed through the warring masses and when it reached him, the General climbed onto its back and rode it towards the north. Lancelot pushed and fought his way past several people before he found a wandering warhorse from his guild, then he mounted the horse and rode after him.

  
  


In the mountains to the west of the battlefield, Princess Felicity and the Hopperas watched and cheered the event. From their vantage point, it looked as though sparkles of silver were slowly overwhelming the black pollutants of a large puddle. The action of the battle was very distracting, so much so that they didn't notice it when a condor landed on a cliff above them. The condor was Mystique, and after a quick transformation, she pointed her staff towards the spectators. A series of green bolts left the orb of the staff, each one striking a Hoppera in the back. The amphibious children were turned into frogs before they had a chance to cry out.

The Princess gasped and looked around at the transformed Hopperas before turning to see the sorceress. "Hey," she called up to her, "what are you doing? You better turn them back right now!"

Mystique leaned her weight on her staff as she casually glanced at Felicity. "These Hopperas still have some potential," she stated, then focused a cold glare on her. "You, I don't need." The orb of her staff lit up once more and shot another green bolt, this time at the Princess.

A brief scream was all Felicity could spare as she leaped to avoid the bolt. When it went past her and dispersed harmlessly against some rocks, she thumbed her nose at the Sorceress and declared, "Missed me! HA! Go practice yer aim you scantily clad smurfette!" But before she could say anything else, another bolt shot out of the orb and this one made a direct hit, turning the Princess into an orange, spotted kitten.

"Now I see why Sabretooth wanted to marry you," Mystique commented as she stood up straight. "You're annoying enough to _want_ to torture for an eternity." She raised her staff, and all the frogs were magically transported into a small cage that appeared next to her feet. "But..." She sighed as she picked up the cage. "I'm too busy forging my own empire to torture anyone directly. Pity." The sorceress laughed, and her laughter became the calls of an eagle as she transformed once again and took off with the cage in her talons.

  
  


The volcano that sat outside Newark had been passively active for decades, only threatening to erupt with its constant billow of smoke and occasional spit of fire. This was the chosen dueling ground for Sabretooth, who raced up its face while mounted on the back of a saber-toothed tiger. Lancelot and his horse made an effort to close the distance between them and, when they reached a good distance on the slope, the General made his first move by diving off his beast to catch the knight off-guard.

Lancelot was tackled to the ground and as his horse wandered off, he worked on keeping the General at bay. "I will take great pride in returning you to the earth, General," he grunted as he held onto the beastman's wrists.

"Fool!" Sabretooth pushed harder, slowly moving his claws to where he could rake them across the knight's face. "I come from HELL! If you believe you can send me back there, then you really have been spending too much time with your head in the dirt!"

Lancelot gave a final grunt, and with it he managed to roll their pairing over so he was on top; unfortunately, the General was expecting something like this. The moment he had proper back support, he used his right foot and knee to pitch the knight over his head. The force of the fling was enough to loosen Lance's grip on Sabretooth and in the next instant, the beastman rolled onto his feet and charged for his opponent. Lancelot regained mental composure just in time to pivot out the way of a fierce jab, then he followed through by swinging his legs around to send Sabretooth tumbling down the mountain. This gave him time to scramble to his feet and when the General made his way back up the mount, he was met by the blade of Sir Lancelot's sword.

A deep, diagonal gash was made in Sabretooth's torso and it looked as though it should have been fatal; however, it healed seconds later. The look on Lancelot's face was one the General had seen many times before, but it brought him the same amusement. "Do you see how foolish your quest is now? I cannot be defeated!"

The knight's expression became stern as an idea came to mind. "You seem to revel in your boasting, General. Tell me. Were your wives considered unbeatable as well?"

Sabretooth stopped his slow approach to eye him suspiciously. "What do you mean 'were?'"

Lancelot smirked at that. "Because all fifty-four of them fell to the blades of the Terra Firma." He frowned and pointed his sword forward. "If your power is no greater than theirs, then I have absolutely nothing to worry about!"

Sabretooth roared as he lunged forward and swiped at the knight. "Do you know how long it took me to amass such a harem," he snarled angrily, swiping a claw with every two syllables. Lancelot parried each blow, but was gradually being moved towards the volcano's mouth.

"You'll see them soon enough," he said as he took a quick glance over his shoulder. The volcano's rim was only a step away from his right heel.

The General took this opportunity to try another jab at the knight's face, and this time Lancelot backflipped to avoid it, sending him right into the mouth of the volcano. This pleased Sabretooth, who rushed to see the end result; unfortunately what he saw was not Lancelot plunging to his death. The knight dropped for several yards before landing on a platform of stone that he conjured from the volcano's inner wall. Sabretooth roared angrily at this, then leaped in after him.

The heat within the volcano's shaft was barely tolerable, and the armor-clad knight sweated profusely from being there less than a minute. But even as the air became too thick to breathe, Sir Lancelot maintained his concentration over the situation. After looking up to make sure that the General was following, he stepped left onto another, smaller platform. When the General's feet were about to touch the larger platform, Lancelot made it crumble, causing a very surprised Sabretooth to continue his descent. Luckily for the beastman, he managed to latch onto what remained of the broken platform with his right hand--this left him at the mercy of the Terra Firma knight. A look of grim satisfaction settled onto Lancelot's face as he raised the blade of his sword. Then, without sparing a moment for a farewell speech, he swung the blade and severed Sabretooth's hold at the wrist.

The General's roar echoed throughout the volcano as he tumbled towards the molten lava, cutting short as he dropped into it. The splash he made was more than gratifying for Lancelot. "So ends the great Army of Magnus," the knight thought to himself, then kicked the hand so it would go over as well. Surprisingly enough, as the hand arced into the air, an eagle swooped out of nowhere and caught it before it could fall. Suspicion washed over Lancelot as he watched this, then he shook off the feeling and worked on climbing out of the volcano.

  
  


By this time, the battle between the Terra Firma Guild and the Army of Magnus had reached its climax. Few of the lord's troops remained standing while most of the knights were still swinging. The last soldier in Magnus' army fell to the blade of a knight just as Lancelot hefted himself into view, then a smile crossed Alvers' face as he listened to the cry of victory from his brothers. Admittedly, it was the most fun the knights had experienced in years and having won the fight just made it all the more enjoyable.

Also by this time, Sky Fire and Blooper had reached the battlefield, and with them they brought Captain Remington and Atrophy, a boy of the Malaisian race, whose bodies always looked as though they were wrought with disease. Likewise, following close behind Blooper was another dragon who was snake-like and bright orange, and as it slithered across the sky its rider sat comfortably on its head. The two dragons landed near the southern edge of the crowd of Terra Firma knights, then Sky Fire called out, "Hey! Any of you all seen Scarlet?"

"I'm here, Sky Fire," the weary witch called as she pushed her way through the gathering. She had lost Lancelot's horse a long time ago during the struggle and suffered a few injuries, but nothing more serious than a gash in her right shoulder that she held tight with her left hand. Her friends rushed from their mounts to meet her as she came into view.

"Look like we miss all de fun," Captain Remington said as he looked around.

"The Army of Magnus has been defeated," Scarlet announced, though the words were unbelievable to her own mind. "The knights of the Terra Firma Guild took on the entire army and wiped them out in the course of an afternoon!"

Several knights were shoved aside as the Blob stepped out of the gathering. "Hey, don't forget me!" He had remained unscathed, though became a little dirty.

Remington blinked at this. "_Blob_? Y'still _alive_?"

His crewman gripped his abdomen and shook it a few times. "A little famished, but I'm still goin'."

The Captain frowned. "Y'wouldn't even _be_ dat if you had retreated like I _tol'_ you to! When we get back to de ship, y'goin' t'be scrapin' barnacles 'til you're as t'in as I am!"

Blob drooped at the reprimand. "Aw, man!"

"Don't be too hard on him, Remy," the Scarlet Witch said in his defense. "The Blob was really helpful, and he saved Toad, as well as the rest of the Hopperas from Sabretooth's dungeon."

Sky Fire added her own comment to the conversation. "Speaking of that flea bag, where is he? I would really like to have a hand in roasting his chestnuts."

"In Hell where he belongs." The answer was given by Sir Lancelot, who rode through the crowd on the back of a white warhorse. He started to fall off the horse as he reached the gathering near the dragons, but a few of his fellow knights caught him and helped him to the ground.

After her shoulder was healed by a touch from Atrophy, the Scarlet Witch raced to kneel beside the fallen knight. "Are you wounded?"

Lancelot offered her a tired smile, then asked, "If I said yes, would you make it better with a kiss?"

The knights within hearing range laughed at his query, then laughed harder as Scarlet plucked him on the forehead for good measure. "Don't think that just because you brought an army out of here to conquer Newark, I've suddenly grown fond of you," she said indignantly.

"Oh, we're not done yet," Lance said as he was helped to his feet. "There's still the matter of vanquishing Lord Magnus. Unless you want that honor for yourself."

Scarlet stood up and gave a quick nod. "Just get me to him. I'll take care of the rest."

"Pardon me, chere," Captain Remington said as he stepped forward. He took a moment to bow cordially, then continued to speak. "My ship is goin' t'arrive at de port of Bavil within a few days. If y'feel de time is right, you may use it t'reach Asterum." He glanced at the various knights. "But, I can only take so many o'those before m'ship won't even carry on a stormwind."

"We are prepared for sea travel," Lancelot replied. "We will have ships ready to sail when you are."

"LANCELOT!" One of the knights came thundering through the battlefield on the back of a horse, grabbing the attention of everyone present. "The Hoppera children are nowhere to be found, and _this_ is what has become of the Laskan female who was with them!" He held up the spotted kitten and she mewled pitifully.

Shocked, Scarlet took the kitten and held it up to look at. "Are you sure this is her," she asked in a tone of disbelief.

"We of the Terra Firma can sense her earthen essence," Lancelot noted. "It is the Laskan. Now, can you change her back?"

Scarlet's brow became furrowed as she looked at the knight. "Me?"

He frowned at her. "Yes, _you_. Are you not a witch? Can you do no more than blast odds and ends?"

The witch cradled the kitten in her arms and muttered, "I... ran away before I could get into that part of my training." She winced as a collective groan rose from the crowd. "Whaaat?"

"Fair Scarlet, I'm surprised you look as fit as you do, let alone survived the battle." Lancelot sighed as he stepped out of the gathering. "We shall just have to take her with us. Undoubtedly, this foul play has something to do with Lord Magnus, so we may be meeting the Hopperas again." He turned to the crowd and shouted, "All right! The time has come to head for the port of Bavil! Regroup and prepare for departure!"

"Shouldn't we do something about that, first," Sky Fire called as she motioned towards General Sabretooth's fortress. "It's kind of an ugly stain on the world, wouldn't you say?"

Scarlet nodded in agreement. "Yes, and the people should know that Sabretooth's territory no longer exists, and that Newark is ready for rebuilding."

Captain Remington smiled as he said, "Scarlet, allow me t'introduce Saint John, a Priest o'de Fire an' Brimstone Guild." He motioned to the rider of the orange dragon. "He's one of de newer additions t'my crew."

Taking that as his cue, St. John signaled for his dragon and it slipped its head between his legs before lifting off the ground. "Y'might wanna move," he called to the others in a distinct accent. "It's about t'get pretty hot here in a minute."

The knights and Scarlet Witch's group of friends all hurried to the nearest mountain range while St. John rode up to the volcano and hovered above its mouth. His hair and eyes burned as he glared at the lava below, then he and his mount dove into the molten rock. Moments passed with no result, then suddenly the earth trembled and the volcano grumbled. A column of lava shot out of the volcano but instead of spraying in all directions, the liquid fire arced towards Newark, splashing down near the city wall. This touchdown marked the start of a river that burned past the wall and made its way through the city streets, engulfing everything that stood in its path. Soon, all of Newark was reduced to a flaming pool of lava--a sight that brought satisfaction to all who witnessed it.

When St. John returned from the volcano, he flew above the others and declared, "The smoke that rises now'll be a signal to the cities in this territory that their days've answerin' to Sabretooth are over!"

"That sounds just fine to me," Lancelot stated as he settled on the back of his horse. "Now. Let's move out!" The knights of the Terra Firma began their sojourn from Newark to Bavil, accompanied by the Scarlet Witch's friends, and Captain Remington's crew.


	3. Chapter 3

**The Perilous Voyage of La Gambit**

  
  


It took four days by horseback to reach Bavil from Newark, and the parade of knights that came through the town was quite a sight fore the folk that lived there. La Gambit, Captain Remington's ship, was parked at the dock as promised, restocked and ready to set sail. While the crew waited patiently for the order to take off, Sir Lancelot paid a visit to Vi, a local priestess of the Terra Firma.

"Wise and regal priestess, please aid your servants in crossing the dangerous seas and bringing an end to Lord Magnus' dark rule!"

"Eh. Whatever."

The priestess accompanied Sir Lancelot to the docks, then greeted Captain Remington and the Scarlet Witch.

"Well," the Captain said, "I'm anxious t'see how y'goin' to conjure dese boats."

The priestess chuckled as she waltzed to the edge of the dock. "Oh no. We don't do conjuring here." She took five seeds from her belt and cast them into the water, then raised a gnarled staff above her head. A powerful wind passed through the port as beams of light shot out of each seed, then twisting vines burst from them and wove themselves into the shape of five ships. They were large and sea-worthy, though they had no masts for sails or oars for rowing. Captain Remington noticed this right away but before he could ask, the priestess spoke again.

"Okay, here's the deal. Your ship is going to have to tow theirs."

The Captain blinked at this. "What? How come?"

The priestess held up her staff again, and this time vines extended from the hull of each ship plant and linked with the aft of the plant in front of it. The lead plant dug into the cabin of La Gambit. This act was very unnerving to the Captain, and it took a reassuring touch from the Scarlet Witch to calm the developing look of tension on his face.

"Ocean exposure puts knights of the Terra Firma in a catatonic state," Vi explained. "They'll all be out cold before they day is passed. But don't worry; even with a hundred knights to a plant, the ship plants will remain light and easy to pull. They are living creatures, and can keep themselves afloat."

"But they're diggin' int'my _ship_," Remington said through gritted teeth, failing to remain calm.

Lancelot smirked as he offered up a comment. "Think of it as a small price to pay for the freedom of the world." He gave the Captain an unsettling slap on the back, then turned his attention to Scarlet. "Well then, fair witch, I shall see you when we reach the other shore."

She stopped him as he turned to leave. "Does it matter which ship you stay on? You could ride with us to Asterum."

His face registered surprise and amusement at this proposition. "Why Scarlet, are you actually growing fond of me?"

She blinked, then frowned. "I'm merely suggesting a more comfortable means of travel." Feeling indignant again, the witch turned from the knight with her arms folded across her chest. "If you'd rather be put to rest in cramped quarters..."

Lancelot laughed heartily at her words and attitude. "Well, fair Scarlet, when you put it that way, how can I possibly refuse?" He bowed to the priestess, Vi, then went to lead his horse on La Gambit.

Once he had taken off, the Scarlet Witch turned to the priestess, bid her farewell, then went to board the Captain's ship. For the first time in years, Captain Remington had a hard time being polite to a woman, but he managed to force himself into a gentleman's bow for the priestess before marching aboard his vessel.

  
  


"Merde, _look_ at dis!" The Captain became outraged as he stood in the door of his quarters and saw the damage that had been done. There were vines--four feet thick--shooting in through the corners of the back wall and digging into the floor. Remington took two steps into the room before he took off his tricorn hat and slammed it against the wood at his feet. A slew of curse words left his mouth as he stomped over to his desk and flopped in the chair that sat behind it. Clarice, his cabin girl, was on her way to see him when she heard his griping from down the hall, and it made her hesitant to enter. But, the purple-skinned elf gathered her courage and continued to the door anyway.

"Captain Remington? Colossus says that La Gambit is ready to set sail."

Remy looked up from between his hands and focused his crimson pupils on her. "We are?" He rubbed his face briskly, then rose from his seat. "All right, den. Set sail!"

La Gambit went full sail and pulled out of the port of Bavil, towing the five ship plants behind it. Just as the priestess had said, none of the ships were a burden to La Gambit's speed. They left the port going twenty knots and were well into open ocean by mid-afternoon of that day.

The crew of La Gambit spent time exchanging stories of their adventures with ones of the Blob's time in General Sabretooth's prison. Pyro, the dragon of Saint John, coiled up in a corner of the deck and slept while the priest sat on top of him and meditated. The Scarlet Witch floated between one conversation and the next, but eventually her concern brought her to the crew's quarters where her brother had been placed. He was under the care of Atrophy, who was supposed to have healed him, but by the looks of it the boy wouldn't go anywhere near him.

"What's wrong," Scarlet asked as she approached the stool where Atrophy sat. "Shouldn't he be well by now?"

"I can't touch him," the boy replied. "Your brother's healing himself; if I try to disrupt the process, even just to speed it up, it could kill us both."

Scarlet's eyes lit up at the thought. "Quicksilver's healing himself? I didn't know he had that power."

"Well not really." Atrophy left his seat to point out the hole in Quicksilver's midsection. "See, your brother moves fast in every aspect. He thinks fast, he runs fast, and he heals fast! If you look close, you can see his bone and flesh knitting back together slowly, but way faster than it would in a normal person."

The witch wasn't comfortable with the idea of looking at her brother's innards, but curiosity got the better of her. Sure enough, when she looked to where the boy indicated, she could see the edges of the hole slowly coming together. It seemed the young man was immortal afterall, or at least, not as easy to kill as previously thought.

"He'll probably wake up when it's finished," Atrophy added. "'Til then, you've got nothing to worry about."

Scarlet smiled as she took his words to heart. "Thank you, Atro. Let me know when he awakes." Waving, she turned and made her way to the stairs that lead up to the deck. As soon as she reached the deck her eyes searched for Lancelot and, once he was located, she made the approach.

The knight's eyelids were slowly drooping when he heard the sound of feet approaching and he turned from the port rail to see who it was. "Oh. Greetings, fair Scarlet." His words came out tired and slow.

"You sound like you're ready to collapse," the woman pointed out. "Why don't you go lay down?"

He turned back to the ocean and brought both of his elbows to rest on the rail. "I have never seen a sunset at sea before. I was trying to hold out until then."

Scarlet leaned forward against the railing to his right, and together they gazed at the setting sun. Its orange glow cast golden rays upon the water before it, making the ocean appear to be teeming with brightly colored fish. In the distance, a sea serpent swam along and cast an interesting silhouette against the fiery semi-circle. "It would make a wonderful portrait," the witch commented quietly.

"Yes, it would," Lancelot replied, then turned to face her. "Tell me, Scarlet. What will you do once all this is over?"

She turned a look of uncertainty in his direction. "Provided I'm not on the brink of death from the struggle?" Scarlet took a moment to think, then shrugged. "Even when Lord Magnus is destroyed, there'll be a lot of damage around the world to attend to. I'll probably start on that after a bit of rest."

Lancelot smirked. "I don't suppose the rest portion could include me, could it?"

Scarlet's brows raised high at that query. "What?"

Still smiling, Lancelot shrugged, lost his balance, then regained composure using the rail. "I merely assumed that if you weren't out saving the world, you might spare a moment to enjoy some of the finer things in life."

Scarlet shook her head at that. "I don't really enjoy going to social events where I'm waited on hand and foot, or being anywhere in a room full of people where you can't tell whether they like you or not."

"Nor do I," Lancelot said with a tired smile. "I meant more along the lines of a slow hike through a calm countryside. You see, I have this--" His words cut short as he suddenly collapsed to the deck.

"Lancelot, what's wrong," the Scarlet Witch blurted out as she knelt down beside him. Without being told, a few of the ship's crewmen gathered around them and prepared to take the knight away.

"My strength is waning," Lancelot replied, his voice reduced to a low whisper. "I can't keep myself awake much longer. But, at least I got to see the sunset." He took a moment to catch his breath. "Your answer, fair Scarlet?"

The woman fixed her mouth to give it, but before she could, Lancelot's eyes rolled back and his eyelids slid closed as he finally gave in to fatigue. Scarlet then stood up and watched as six crewmen lifted him off the deck, then carried him down to the crew's quarters. She didn't know if she would have said yes to his offer, had he stayed awake for the answer, but she couldn't deny that it made her feel good for him to ask.

  
  


Although her plan had fumbled several times in the past month, Mystique was pleased to see that it was getting back on track. For years she had worked hard on usurping Lord Magnus, feigning loyalty while weaving her web. The pieces of her deadly puzzle were almost complete--all she needed was to make certain that the twins would perish.

The sorceress also needed to divert attention from herself for a while, and that's where the hand of Sabretooth came into play. After a long return flight to Asterum, she casually marched into Magnus' throne room and held up the severed appendage. The intense glow of Magnus' eyes increased as he looked upon it, then he signaled for her to restore the General.

The hand was set in the air, and after it was touched by the orb of Mystique's staff, bone and tissue extended from it to form the rest of Sabretooth's body. When his hulking form was fully created, clothes knit themselves back around his body, eventually bringing him back to the way he looked before death.

Bewildered and disoriented, the General took a slow look around before being startled by Mystique's voice. "You know," the sorceress began with a hint of amusement in her tone, "if it weren't for me, you wouldn't even be a hand right now."

Lord Magnus added, "And if it weren't for you, General, my army would still exist."

A terrible chill brushed the back of Sabretooth's neck. He fixed his mouth to talk and his words came out with little confidence. "Lord Magnus, I ju--"

"Two-thousand, four-hundred and fifty eight. Gone, and what for? One of your sadistic hobbies?" The lord's voice increased in volume. "Who gave you permission to call them from their rest?"

The look of amusement on Mystique's face served to further throw Sabretooth off. "No one, my lord, but you don't understand--"

"What I understand is that now, thanks to you, I am without an army!" A boom of thunder shook the foundation of the throne room, causing the chains that draped along its walls to rattle and clank against each other. "Mystique!"

The sorceress straightened her posture. "Yes, Lord Magnus?"

"Are you planning to fail me as well, or will you be making a valid effort this time?"

Instead of replying, Mystique pointed her staff at the floor in front of her and made the nine frogs appear that she had taken from Newark. Tapping her staff against the ground caused the frogs to revert back to Hopperas, and before they could panic she cast a spell that froze them in place.

Sabretooth's nostrils flared at this. "Hey! Those are my Hopperas!"

The sorceress smirked. "They managed to escape from you. I believe that makes them free game."

Once again thunder shook the room as Lord Magnus spoke. "The Hopperas should be the least of your worries, General. If I were you, I would be more concerned with staying out of my lord's reach for the next two years."

Sabretooth's expression faltered, then fell. Magnus' words were a cruel indication that he had fallen out of favor, and his only option was to run with his nonexistent tail between his legs. Against his better judgement, the General looked to Mystique for some sort of response; the vicious smile she displayed was like salt on his wounded pride. Nothing he could say or do would help this situation, so he quietly turned and walked away.

Mystique waited until she heard the doors of the throne room close before she continued her presentation. Each Hoppera was surrounded in a red aura and their bodies were manipulated until they all stood up straight. Ribbons of black cloth snaked about their limbs and formed new garments--the kind worn by ninjas. The last lengths of the ribbon wrapped around their heads and left only their eyes exposed. Those eyes then glowed as red as the aura that faded from their bodies and when the Hopperas were able to move again, they immediately fell in line near their new mistress.

"The Scarlet Witch values the lives of these Hopperas," Mystique stated. "She will not allow them to be harmed, making them the perfect saboteurs for her little shipride to Asterum."

Lord Magnus' voice lost its hostility. "Good. Send them to eliminate the Captain and crew of the ship carrying her." He glanced at one Hoppera in particular. "Is that the boy she has been caring for?" Mystique looked to Toad, then nodded once as she turned back to Magnus. "Excellent," he replied. "Have him be the one to seek out Scarlet."

"Of course, my lord." The sorceress's eyes sparkled as she raised a question. "What about your son? You know he is on that ship."

"He will survive if it is sunk," Lord Magnus replied. "The boy _is_ immortal."

Mystique's facial expression went from devious to disbelieving. "What?" It took all of her willpower to keep herself from looking and sounding upset. "I thought that was just some lie you were selling him to make him more confident when he learned his sister had more power than he did!"

The lord's eyes narrowed. "I never lied to my children, Mystique. All that I told them they were capable of, they are."

This information pushed Mystique's patience to the brink and the bottom lid of her right eye twitched to illustrate it. The blow she had dealt to Pietro earlier was supposed to kill him, but if it turned out that he was still alive, that would set her plan back several years! The thought almost made her explode with rage but she held it all in, only giving a nod as farewell to Lord Magnus before turning on her heels and exiting the throne room.

Mystique's silent temper tantrum didn't go unnoticed by Lord Magnus. As he watched her and her new minions leave, the lord's suspicions grew and a plan of action formed in his mind. The metal of his armor creaked as he shifted his position, then the lord arose from his throne. The shadows formed into a dark wind that whipped around the room for several moments, causing the chains to rattle against each other. When the wind settled and darkness left the room, both the draping chains and Lord Magnus were gone.

  
  


Slow walking and heavy sighs had brought Sabretooth as far as the black marsh that surrounded the central spire of Asterum. He had no saber-toothed tigers to ride, which meant a long and miserable walk home. Dwelling on failure made the General sigh again, but halfway through the sigh he stopped as he felt the presence of another person. His posture stiffened and his eyes narrowed as he spoke. "Haven't you had enough of a laugh at my expense, Mystique?"

The sorceress traipsed up to him from behind, magically walking on the muddy swamp water to keep her boots and lengthy loincloth from being soiled. "Oh come now, General. You know I wouldn't laugh in your face without Lord Magnus present."

Sabretooth snorted gruffly, keeping his back to her. "Go away, wench. I have a long walk home, and yours is the last company I wish to keep."

"I may be the only company you have left," Mystique noted. "Your harem has been destroyed, your army has been decimated, and Lord Magnus has half a mind to destroy you on the spot."

He turned to face her. "Does your recounting of all my current problems have a point?"

"Your only problem is Lord Magnus, and that can be easily solved."

The air grew deathly quiet. "What are you talking about?"

"Magnus is losing it." Mystique crossed her arms behind her back as she paced across a dying log. "Do you remember the prophecy that was brought to us years ago?"

"Nonsense." Sabretooth snorted again. "Superstitious nonsense."

Mystique smirked at his disbelief. "For a Hell-spawned creature, you certainly have some nerve calling something superstitious." She shook her head to remove the smirk. "That prophecy is coming true whether he wants it to or not, and _I_ am making certain that it does."

"You're insane," Sabretooth growled. "Moreso than usual! Do you know what will happen if Lord Magnus finds out about this?"

"Even if he found out now it would be too late for him to do anything about it. Those who will fulfill the prophecy are on their way, and when the lord falls, what do you think will become of his vast empire?" Mystique clenched her fist in emphasis. "It will be ripe for the taking! The time is nearly right for the harvest, and if you have a hand in the sowing, you may be able to reap part of the rewards."

Sabretooth's expression went from agitated to highly amused as he listened to her speak. "In other words, you want me to betray Lord Magnus and risk eternal torment on the small chance that some prophecy will come true."

"I want you to help me see to it that the prophecy turns true."

The more Mystique talked, the more Sabretooth felt amused by the situation. It almost made him forget about being banished from Lord Magnus' sight. "You really are a treacherous opportunist, aren't you, Mystique? Using this moment of our lord's weakness as a means to rise up in power." He stopped to lick his teeth and think about her offer. "Well... I'm a bit of an opportunist, myself, but only when I think the risks are worth it."

"And are the risks worth it," the sorceress asked eagerly.

"I'm not against your mad scheme, Mystique, but I'm also not for it." The General smirked. "I'll watch from the shadows; I'll move when the mood strikes me. But in the event that this plot fails, it'll be far more enjoyable for me to watch you suffer the consequences, rather than suffer them along with you."

"All of a sudden he becomes a cautious predator," Mystique said with a hint of amusement. "Very well. I shall trust that in the meantime you will keep my dealing a secret."

Sabretooth grinned. "As long as I see benefit, you won't have nothing to worry about."

"Excellent." Taking that as a satisfactory answer, the sorceress took off in the form of a raven. Sabretooth watched for a few moments before he started to take off again, then a feeling caused him to stop in mid-step. That same chill he had while in the presence of Magnus had resurfaced with increased intensity. He tensed, then when he located the source of the feeling, his tension quickly changed to fear. Lord Magnus could be seen hovering three feet off the ground and to the General's left. The glow had left his eyes, causing his round, velvet helmet to seem empty; yet, even without seeing his face, it wasn't hard to tell that he was not happy.

"Lord Magnus..." Sabretooth choked, then cleared his throat before he continued. "How long have you been there?"

"Long enough," was the lord's blunt reply.

"Then you know about Mystique's plan to overthrow you?"

"I have known since the day I employed her that Mystique's intentions were all her own. Now that those intentions include betraying me, the sorceress has lost all usefulness."

Sabretooth was relieved to not be included in Magnus' words, but he knew he wasn't out of the woods yet. "What shall we do about it, then?"

"I will take care of Mystique and my daughter once and for all." The glow returned to Lord Magnus' eyes. "You, shall suffer."

Before Sabretooth could object, a spear-tipped chain shot out of the swamp water behind him and struck him in the back of his neck. Not even air to cry out with could get past the spearhead that jutted partially out the front of his throat. He reached up to grab the chain, but another one whipped out of the water and wrapped around his reaching wrist, then another wrapped around his midsection.

"It would have been in your best interest to have kept on walking quietly when Mystique started propositioning you," Lord Magnus stated. "If you had, I would not have discovered that your heart is as traitorous as hers. Mekan Ikull will take the time to remind you of where your loyalties should solely lie. Hopefully, by the time I decide to free you from his grasp, your memory will be more than refreshed." The chains dragged Sabretooth into the water, then Lord Magnus turned and floated away.

  
  


With his hands clasped behind his back, Captain Remington silently walked the expanse of his ship, checking to see what all of his passengers and crew members were doing. The Scarlet Witch had drifted asleep on a cot that sat between Quicksilver and Sir Lancelot. The Blob was down in the mess hall harassing Sky Fire about her cooking. St. John and Pyro were sleeping quietly on deck, and Atrophy nodded off at the helm. The rest of his crew were either taking a rest or tending to the ship.

At the end of his walk, the Captain returned to his quarters and was surprised to find Clarice sitting in his chair. Even though it was well into the night and she had been dismissed hours ago, the girl was still awake and playing with the kitten that used to be Princess Felicity.

"Somethin' de matter, petite," Remington asked as he stepped into the room.

Clarice started to scramble out of his chair, but he waved her back to it. "Nothing," she replied. "I just wasn't in the mood to sleep." Her eyes searched the room as if the words she wanted to say were written on the walls. "I never got the chance to really thank you for letting me in your crew."

The Captain smirked. "No thanks necessary. After Sky Fire started tourin' wit' de Scarlet Witch, I've been in need o'someone t'keep my t'ings in order."

Clarice let off a hesitant chuckle as she cradled the kitten in her arms. "Yeah, well I didn't think you would hire a stowaway to do anything besides clean up after Japheth's slugs."

"Dat man can clean up after his own slugs." Remington paused as he thought of something. If he were to call on the slugs, they could chew through the vines digging through his quarters and repair work could begin on his beautiful La Gambit! It was a tempting idea, but the Captain knew it would only get him in trouble with the Scarlet Witch, so he let it slip from his mind. "Alors, I'm impressed y'managed t'give de Morlocks de slip wit'out dem comin' after you."

Clarice chuckled nervously as she brushed strands of maroon hair out of her face. "Eh-heh, yeah."

Remington noticed her hesitance and focused an amused and suspicious look in her direction. "Eh-heh?"

Before an answer could be given, their conversation was interrupted by a shout from the deck. "Captain Remington! Trouble off the starboard rail!"

"Trouble," the Captain echoed to himself, then frowned at his cabin girl. Perhaps the Morlocks were coming for her after all. "Stay here an' don' come up 'less I call you up," he ordered, then turned and marched out of his quarters.

Several crewmen had stopped what they were doing to glance over the starboard side. At first they saw nothing, but eventually the gleam of moonlight on a moving object caught their attention. A pair of iron tentacles came into view, both made up of numerous sections linked together by flexing joints. These mechanical appendages rose twenty feet above the water and waved lazily before slipping below again. Remington reached the gathering of crewmen in time to see this and the sight instantly wiped all suspicions of Morlock activity from his mind.

The Captain set in motion the preparation of his ship for battle. "All hands on deck! Raise de sails! Secure de quarters! Batten down de hatches! Prepare de cannons an' wait for my signal!" He made his way to the upper deck and the helm.

At this time, the Scarlet Witch made her way up to the lower deck and took a look around. "What's going on?"

"A mechanical sea creature was spotted nearby," St. John said as he mounted Pyro. "Cap'n R wants us to be ready just in case it attacks." The priest and his dragon took to the air.

"A mechanical sea creature?" Scarlet shook her head and started for the helm. "That has to be one of Lord Magnus' creations! My father always fancied himself as a blacksmith."

Captain Remington took the wheel and called out to his crew. "Battlestations ready? Colossus!"

A burly, shirtless sailor jogged into view on the lower deck. "Aye, Captain?"

"If de livestock's out cold, I want y'to stay on deck! An' y'better tell Japheth t'hack up his girls! De better have a taste for metal, too!"

The ship rocked suddenly as something below the surface crashed into it. Then, an iron tentacle lifted out of the water and slapped down over the lower deck. The thick grooves on the underside of the tentacle dug into the wood of La Gambit's deck, a sight which set the Captain on edge. "CLARICE!" His cabin girl appeared next to him. "Take de wheel an' keep it steady! Colossus! Blob! Get rid o'dat tentacle!"

The Blob rushed over to one side of the tentacle and latched onto it with his massive hands. On the other side, Colossus stood several feet down from him and grabbed onto a thinner end. His skin took on the consistency of steel and his grip tightened even more. Together, the two men lifted the tentacle off the deck and lobbed it back into the ocean, but as soon as it slid below the surface, two more came up from opposite sides of the ship and slammed down in its place. When the Blob and Colossus went to remove them, another pair of tentacles reached up and slapped them aside, knocking the Blob into the wall supporting the upper deck, and Colossus into the water.

"Man overboard," Atrophy shouted from the crow's nest. "Creature off the port rail!"

Four meters to the left of La Gambit, the body of a mechanical squid surfaced and emitted a sound like that of a foghorn. Its body was larger than the ship, and it had six more tentacles to add to the two that held La Gambit at bay. One tentacle raised and held up Colossus as the squid tried to squeeze him to death, but the man converted his entire body to metal and barely flinched under the strain.

Remington rushed to the lower deck and stood next to the port rail. "Fire de cannons! Port side!"

"Captain, the ship plants," Atrophy called.

Remington looked to his right and saw that the squid was working on breaking the connecting vines that were between each plant. As much as it would have pleased him to have La Gambit free of the load, the Captain knew it would have meant a heavy burden on his conscience to let five-hundred warriors die defenseless. "Blob! Bring some cannonballs t'de upper deck," he called as he ran to the back of his ship. When the Blob joined him and brought what he asked, he had him set all but one down and step up to the aft rail. Captain Remington touched the ball with the tips of his fingers and made it glow with kinetic energy, then he instructed the Blob to throw it at the closest iron tentacle.

When the cannonball hit, it exploded and broke part of the tentacle off at one of its joints. The squid trumpeted as its injured tentacle slid into the water, then out of retaliation it tightened its grip around La Gambit's hull. "Where de HELL is Japheth," Remington shouted. "Tell him t'get up here an' free my ship!"

The pirate in question finally came to the lower deck carrying an armor-plated slug under each arm. "Sorry, Cap'n," he called, "but the girls needed more motivation than usual to come out!"

"Save de apologies an' get t'work! Dis monster plans on crushin' _my_ beautiful vessel!"

"Aye, Captain!" Japheth set his slugs down near the tentacles, then stepped back. Each dog-sized gastropod turned to the tentacle closest to it and set into gnawing away at the metal using the grooves they had for teeth. Normal slugs moved slow, but these two worked quickly as they ate a straight line across the tentacles. The iron squid trumpeted again as it slid its damaged appendages into the water, then dived to escape the hail of cannonballs that continued to assault it.

With the help of Captain Remington's power, the Blob used all the cannonballs he brought to destroy the remaining tentacles that were harassing the ship plants. It seemed like a good idea, but when one of the tentacles were broken it sent a spray of oil over part of the plant in the midst of the towing line. After that tentacle sank into the water, a thin, whiplike cable flipped onto the middle plant and ignited it using a burst of electricity.

Remington's eyes went wide as he watched the blaze spread rapidly. "Merde!" The ship plant rocked and billowed on its own as the fire engulfed its hull. "Saint John! Do somethin' about dat fire!"

"Aye-aye!" The priest had taken to the air to keep an eye on the iron squid's whereabouts, but upon command he deviated from that and immediately tended to the burning ship plant. As Pyro flew him close to the ship, St. John inhaled deeply and drew all the fire into his own mouth. When it was all taken in he swallowed noisily, then burped up a cloud of smoke. "Mmm. Just right."

"Showoff," Remington muttered to himself as he watched the priest return to La Gambit. He then assessed the damage done to the ship plant. "De plant's been burnt badly. We're goin' t'have to turn around an' take it to de nearest port town before we go any further." As soon as the Captain finished speaking, one of the iron squid's tentacles shot out of the water and flung the body of Colossus at the burnt plant. The man's flesh was still made of metal at the time, so when he hit the plant he went straight through its hull and ended up splashing down in the water on the other side. These two holes and the fire damage were all it took to put the ship plant out of commission. It let off a sad wail as it lost its grip on the plant in front of it, then it began a slow sink below the ocean's surface.

The crew of La Gambit looked on in horror as several of the sleeping Terra Firma knights slipped through the holes in the plant and disappeared into the water. The ship plant crumbled and sank, leaving the two that were behind it to drift away from tow line. This gave the iron squid the perfect opportunity to attack the drifting ships. When it resurfaced, a hatch opened on the top of the squid's body and out leaped five mechanical sharks that instantly took to the water. The sharks made a beeline for the ship plants and leaped at the last one in line. In mid-leap, each shark transformed into a mechanical marionette and when they landed on the ship's deck, they began tearing away at it with their knife-like claws and teeth.

Captain Remington cursed as he rushed to the helm. He took the wheel from Clarice and pulled the ship into a hard U-turn in hopes of reaching the lost ship plants in time to save them. "Saint John! Fly out dere an' pick up Colossus! Blob, prepare de harpoon line for launch, vite! An' someone get those damn tentacles off m'ship!" La Gambit rocked off course as the iron squid rammed into its port side, cutting off its path to the lost plants.

This was an unfortunate predicament for La Gambit's crew. The transformed sharks tore into the ship plant while the iron squid used its uninjured tentacles to try and put the squeeze back on La Gambit's hull. "We're breakin' up, Captain," a crewman shouted from below deck. "She can't take much more!"

Remington gnashed his teeth as he mulled over the idea of abandoning ship. In all his years of sailing the thought had never crossed his mind before, but now he had the welfare of his crew and passengers to worry about. Yet, even if they did escape into the lifeboats of La Gambit, they would still be at the mercy of the squid and its shark minions. This was not the way the Captain had planned for his life-long voyage to end.

Just as the sharks moved to the other plant that had drifted from La Gambit, a condor swooped overhead and dropped five frogs onto the plant's deck. Instantly the frogs turned into dark-clad warriors and set out to combat the mechanical sharks. While they fought, the condor dropped four more frogs onto the body of the squid and after they transformed, those warriors started prying away at the squid's shingles and bolts. With their slender fingers, the strangers easily gained access to the bolts and--with speed and precision--unscrewed them, then threw them to the surrounding water. The iron squid was alarmed to find that it was being taken apart, but its tentacles couldn't sweep around fast enough to catch the quick-working warriors off-guard.

Remington and his crew watched as the sharks were beaten back into the ocean and the squid was taken apart bolt by bolt. The monster pulled its tentacles away from La Gambit and used them to swat at its attackers, but the warriors were all too fast for it. They dodged all of its swipes and continued taking it apart. Desperate to be left alone, the squid sank into the deep current. Bubbles marked its whereabouts, but gradually they stopped coming to the surface. Several pieces of material floated into view, followed by the warriors, who then made their way to La Gambit's hull. The iron squid had been defeated, taken apart piece by piece.

  
  


With the danger passed, La Gambit weighed anchor so its crew could take time to regroup and get to know their rescuers. While this took place, the Scarlet Witch sank further into a small corner she had put herself in and began to sulk. During the battle, she had tried to be helpful by using her magic on the iron squid, but every spell she cast merely bounced off its thick hide. All she knew how to do with her magic was to stop someone in their tracks one way or another--twice now she learned that it was no longer enough. Was she truly ready to face her father and fight him to the death? Doubt crept its way up her spine, so to shake it off, she clambered to her feet and rushed to join the gathering on the lower deck.

Captain Remington stepped ahead of his crew and addressed the dark-clad warriors. "Mes amis, I'm in your debt for saving my ship an' crew. But... tell me. Who are you?" The warriors didn't answer. "Hein, prefer t'be de strong an' silent type den, eh?"

Scarlet stopped near the Captain and took a hard look at the strangers' gazes--the only thing she could see behind the masks they wore. As she leaned closer, a familiar odor touched her nostrils and she immediately knew who they were. "It's the Hopperas," Scarlet declared, "the ones who were taken from the battlefield!" All of a sudden her expression softened as she peered at one Hoppera in particular. "Toad..." When he focused a cold gaze on her it struck her like a dagger in the heart, forcing her to unconsciously look away.

After observing the awkward silence, Remington stepped forward again and spoke. "Well dat's nice t'know. But if dey were taken, who sent dem?"

"I did," came the reply from Mystique as she appeared on the deck in a swirl of crimson mist. The crew of La Gambit instantly focused their attention on her and the Hopperas positioned themselves to stand behind her.

"_Mystique_!" All the recent feelings that crept up in Scarlet were instantly replaced by bitterness and suspicion as she focused her attention on the indigo woman. "What have you done to them?"

"Nothing harmful, I assure you." Mystique's colorless eyes sparkled as she let her fingers play with the handle of her staff. "Hopperas are a powerful breed; one could kill a dragon with a single kick to the head! Unfortunately, they'd rather just frolic around a jungle and play all their lives. I opened their minds to their true potential, then sprinkled them with a little obedience to me." Her wicked smirk grated on the Scarlet Witch's nerves.

"Set them free, Mystique. You have no right to keep them like this!"

"You want me to return their train of thought to the realm of the cowardly? I don't believe they would appreciate that."

"I don't believe they appreciate being controlled!"

"LADIES, PLEASE!" Captain Remington stepped forward and positioned himself between Scarlet and Mystique--a dangerous place, much like the edge of a hurricane. "Dis is REALLY not de best time t'argue! Save it 'til we get to de nearest port town, oui?"

"The nearest port town?" One of Mystique's thin, crimson eyebrows arched at this. "You would have to turn around for that. Why when you're so close to victory?"

The Captain threw up his hands and laughed disbelievingly. "Hello? Will y'look at my ship," he asked in an exasperated tone. "It's fallin' apart at d'boards! We'll be lucky if it makes it to de nearest port, nevermind Asterum!"

Mystique rolled her eyes as she stepped away from the gathering. "Ugh. Must I think of everything?" She raised her staff, conjuring a sudden wind that whipped over La Gambit and the three remaining ship plants. As the wind built up intensity, its breezes passed through the cracks of La Gambit's hull and pulled them closed. All the damage that was done to the ship reversed quickly; even the vines that dug through the Captain's quarters pulled back and found a less damaging way to latch on. Once again the ship plants formed a line behind La Gambit, ready as though they had just sprouted. When the wind died down, all of La Gambit's damage was completely gone.

Captain Remington turned a full, slow circle to take in the restored beauty of his vessel. Taking in a breath, he walked to the closest rail and ran his fingers along the wood--not a single splinter leapt up to prick him. "Dis wood feels jus' as good as it did back when I first had La Gambit christened," he said with awe, then focused a smile in Mystique's direction. "De sorceress gets my vote." Removing his hat, he leaned forward in a sweeping bow. "Welcome aboard La Gambit."

Scarlet broke the calm moment. "NO," she yelled, stomping a foot.

"No," Remington asked as he fixed his hat back on his head.

"No, she is _not_ welcome aboard La Gambit!" The witch stepped forward and focused her most heinous glare on Mystique. "What are you doing here, sorceress? Don't tell me you've fallen out of favor with Lord Magnus and are looking for some new place to hang your hat."

"More like your father has fallen out of favor with me," Mystique stated bluntly. "It is time he faced eviction, and although you seem to be the one rising to meet the challenge, you are hardly skilled to surpass it." She glanced at her fingernails and spoke nonchalantly. "Clearly, my services are needed."

"Please," Scarlet chuffed. "I know you, Mystique. You wouldn't help anyone if there weren't any long-term benefits for you."

"This is true," Mystique replied, "but as the Captain has just found out, there are benefits to others as well. The bottom line is that we both want Lord Magnus dealt with, and putting forth a team effort will be more beneficial."

"We're already putting forth a group effort, Mystique. We don't need you!"

"Hol' on dere, Scarlet," Remington said as he stepped between the women again. "Don't be so hasty t'get rid of her. After all, she did fix m'ship." He took a moment to straighten his coat. "Now, Mystique may not be de mos' honest woman, but for de time bein' she on our side. If it weren't for her magic, we'd a lost a good day of travelin' weather!"

The Scarlet Witch narrowed her eyes as her face went sour. "If she's so for our cause, let's see her raise those ship plants that were sunk, and bring back the warriors that were on them!"

Mystique shook her head tiredly as she spoke. "Even if it wouldn't drain me of all the energy I had, I wouldn't waste the effort."

"And why not?"

"You'd be better off cutting them all loose, my dear. An army will do you no good in Asterum. That whole island is teeming with dark energy bleeding from Lord Magnus' very core; he could find a particular grain of sand on the black beachfront, let alone an entire group of light-reflective barbarians. _If_ any of the ship plants still exist when we reach Asterum, you would be wise to tell the knights to remain on board. Otherwise, you'll all die a fine death together."

"She's gotta point, Scarlet," Remington said as he shrugged. "An army'd make a pretty big target for whatever Lord Magnus is going t'throw at us."

Scarlet couldn't believe it. Her plans were being undermined by the sudden appearance and cooperation of Mystique! "So what," she snapped. "So we'll leave the knights behind! Either way, we _don't_ need the help of someone who's been kowtowing to Lord Magnus for centuries on end!"

"DAT'S 'XACTLY DE KINDA PERSON WE NEED," the Captain yelled out of anger and frustration. "For de lov'ah GOD, Scarlet, jus' lemme be de Cap'n of m'own ship!" He let off an exasperated sigh. "De night's nearly done, m'crew needs dere rest, an' frankly, Scarlet, you could use some as well!"

The witch was shocked even further by Remington's attitude towards her. "But--"

"I don't want t'hear it! We're going to Asterum like y'want, _an'_ we're doin' it wit' de help a'Mystique! End of discussion!" The Captain turned and addressed his crew. "Night shift, back t'yer posts! No one call me from m'quarters 'less La Gambit is two inches away from bein' completely under de water. Got dat?" As he strode towards the door to his cabin, he called to the upper deck, "Clarice, see to it dat Mystique gotta place t'rest."

Mystique chuckled as she sat in a fancy chair that appeared behind her. "I shall be just fine on the lower deck, thank you."

"Whatever." The door of the cabin slammed closed behind Remington.

The crew dispersed randomly after their Captain left, though most just found a comfortable spot on the deck and went back to sleep. Mystique maintained her smug look of satisfaction while she watched them, and the Hopperas settled into relaxed positions around her. Scarlet stood nearby, wanting nothing more than to rush up to Toad and pull him away from the sorceress. But, everytime she stared too long the boy would shoot her a glare as though she were his enemy. Finally, Sky Fire managed to usher Scarlet back to the crew's quarters, where the witch had a very uneasy night wrestling with her own doubts.

  
  


Morning came, and most of the crew remained slothful from the night before. Even Captain Remington didn't leave his cabin until the early afternoon; although, with Sky Fire emerging moments later it wasn't hard to tell why.

During the moments of peace that followed, a stowaway made her presence known to the one person that remained in the crew's quarters. When all but Quicksilver left to perform tasks above, a small bat dropped to the stool near the man's bed, then shifted into its true form: Rogue, the faithful apprentice of Mystique. Her pale features made her out to be a vampire but she was only that by half, the other being unknown to even her.

The Rogue crossed her legs beneath the split skirt of her emerald dress and cupped her hands over one of her knees. Quietly, she leaned forward to look at the remaining injury to Quicksilver's torso: the hole had finally closed, leaving a star-shaped bruise that slowly faded away. "Y'know, I'm tempted to poke that thing and see if it'll wake you up," Rogue commented casually.

One after the other, Quicksilver's eyelids parted and he looked at her. "Well, aren't you the sly one," he muttered tiredly, then cleared his throat. "Still tagging along after me. What's it been, three, four weeks since I left Asterum?"

The woman smirked. "There's no hidin' from you, Quick. How's the body?"

"Mobile but sore, which is why I'm still laying here like dead weight."

"Poor baby," Rogue said in a mocking tone, then moved to kneel beside him. "Well, don't feel too bad. You're on your way home right now courtesy of your sister and her freakish followers."

Quicksilver's brow furrowed after he heard her words. "....What?"

"Ya'll didn't know?" Smirking, the Rogue began tracing the muscles of his shirtless chest with one of her black-painted fingernails. "Scarlet got herself a little army, laid waste to Newark and Lord Magnus' army, and now she's on her way to Asterum in hopes of destroyin' it as well."

"What?!" Quicksilver sat up quickly--an action he soon came to regret. Pain shot up his sides, forcing him onto his back once again. Gritting his teeth was all he could do to keep from screaming at the top of his lungs.

Rogue was highly amused by this. "Watch yourself, Quick. You could end up in this bed longer than you're supposed to."

"Scarlet can't go to Asterum," Quicksilver grunted. "She'll be killed! Father won't stand for her trying to subdue him!"

"Try tellin' that to her." Rogue's attention went to the closed portal of the crew's quarters. "She's on her way here right now."

The Rogue shifted into a bat and took off to find a good hiding place. As soon as she went out of sight, the door of the crew's quarters came open and in walked the Scarlet Witch. In her hands she carried a tray of food: a bowl of hot soup, wine in a cup, and biscuits to help the soup go down better. When she saw that her brother was awake, a small smile graced the woman's features and she spoke. "Welcome back to the land of the living."

Quicksilver maintained a frown. "Tell me you're not going to Asterum."

The statement caught Scarlet by surprise, but she answered it without hesitation. While speaking, she placed the food on a nearby stand, then sat on the stool next to his cot. "We're on our way there right now. Why?"

Quicksilver shook his head and slowly pulled himself upright. "You can't do this, Scarlet. Not to father, and definitely not to me!"

His sister became confused. "What are you talking about?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about," he snapped. "You're going to try and kill Lord Magnus, _our_ father! Not only is that going to be impossible, but when you do try, he's going to have no choice but to kill you in self defense!"

Scarlet frowned at his words and attitude. "You knew it would come to this someday. Why are you being so childish?"

"WHY ARE _YOU_ BEING SO DIFFICULT," Quicksilver yelled, then fell back from the pain of the effort. "Please, Scarlet," he moaned, "you're my sister. He's my father. Don't make me choose between the two of you..."

Scarlet's expression soured as she stood up and crossed her arms. "It seems to me that you've already chosen," she stated bitterly. "Why can't you see this from my side?"

"Why can't you see it from mine?" Quicksilver's eyes pleaded with her. "Don't act out of anger, Scarlet. You may not believe this, but father _can_ be reasoned with! Just..." He took a moment to breathe, then pushed himself upright again. "Look. If you don't want to give father a chance, at least give me a chance with him."

His sister's expression softened, but remained stern. "What do you mean," she asked suspiciously.

"Let me go to father ahead of you," Quicksilver suggested. "I could talk to him about the situation, and come up with some reasonable solution..."

Scarlet stared at him in disbelief. "Do you believe for one minute that Lord Magnus would compromise?" She shook her head sadly, slowly lowering herself back to the stool. "You really have lived a sheltered life, haven't you?"

Quicksilver's expression became cold. "You know what? I'm tired of you _and_ him underestimating me! I haven't been sitting in my room all these years being mollycoddled by that nursemaid of ours! I have lead armies; I have conquered whole regions without any help! I am fully capable of doing something besides being used by either of you to make the other more tolerable!" He sighed to relieve some of his pain and frustration. "I want to do this, Scarlet. I want to try and bridge the gap that's formed between the three of us! Just let me run ahead and talk to him. If, by the time you arrive, I haven't brought our father to speaking terms, then I won't stand in your way any longer. Please?"

Scarlet listened to his speech with closed ears at first, but as it went on she became aware of how desperate her brother really was. While her current reason for living was absolute revenge, his was family. Magnus was a cruel overlord--a dictator without remorse. But to Quicksilver he was a father who had treated him decent enough to be spared. No matter her frame of mind, Scarlet always found room in her heart for her brother's requests, even when she felt she would live to regret it. So, with a heavy sigh, she agreed to give him a chance.

"When you're fully healed, you can make the run."

"Thank you," Quicksilver said in an exasperated sigh. Laying back on the cot, he watched her quietly for a moment, sorted through his thoughts, then smirked. "See? It's not that hard to cooperate with someone."

Scarlet suppressed a smirk that dared to show on her face. "Only when that someone is you, Q. Now eat your soup. It's probably cold by now, though." She stood up and started for the door. "Oh, I meant to tell you. Mystique's on board, so be prepared if she decides to talk to you."

Quicksilver moved his head so he could watch her leave. "Mystique? What's she doing here?"

"She claims to be on our side, but you and I know the only side she's on is her own. Watch yourself if she comes down here to talk to you." Scarlet waved to her brother, then turned and left the room.

  
  


The mess hall of La Gambit had become a culinary war zone thanks to the Blob's insatiable palette. Every time Sky Fire cooked up what she felt was a decent meal, he would take a sample, then throw out harsh criticism. By the time Scarlet returned to the galley, the two were hunched over separate stoves, cooking up their own versions of clam chowder. The smell was mouth-watering; some pirates even stopped in the doorway because of it. Scarlet forced her way past all of them, then closed the galley portal to encourage them to leave. "Sky, Blob, what are you doing?"

"Some people don't know a good meal when they taste it," Sky Fire grunted as she squeezed past Blob to reach the spice rack.

"Yeah, well, some people couldn't cook if their life depended on it," the Blob shot back while vigorously stirring the contents of his pot.

"I can cook just fine, you just don't got no taste buds!"

Scarlet shook her head at their behavior. "Look, Blob. I know how important food is to you, but, I need to speak with Sky Fire alone."

The Blob laughed. "Hah! Fine with me! She can come back and finish her chowder later."

Sky Fire jabbed at his love handles with a cooking spoon. "Ain't no way I'm leavin' my chowder here so you can sabotage it!"

"Come on, Sky," Scarlet called in an annoyed tone. "I really need someone to talk to right now."

Sky Fire grumbled as she shoved her armload of spices back on their rack. "Fine, fine," she said as she squeezed past the Blob again. Before leaving, she took a taste of her unfinished stew, then turned to him and said, "I know what my food tastes like right now, you! If I come back and it tastes any different, we'll see how immovable you really are!"

Once she was sure to be followed, the Scarlet Witch stepped out into the mess hall and checked to see if all the doors leading into it were closed. Afterwards, she settled on a bench near the middle of the room and sighed. "This isn't going how I planned for it to."

Sky Fire took one last look into the galley before joining her friend on the bench. "You mean there's a plan behind all this? 'Cause I sure couldn't tell." She meant for the statement to be a joke, but the look of depression on Scarlet's face took all the humor out of the moment. "Come on, Scar. Things ain't so bad. We are just a few steps away from getting rid of your rotten, old man."

"I'm not even sure if this is a good idea anymore," Scarlet said as she brought her arms to rest on the table in front of her.

"What? You think freeing the world's not a good idea?"

Scarlet shook her head. "No, of course that's a good idea. It's just--" Again she sighed. "I don't have the power to do it." Saying those words aloud almost made her choke. "I thought I did, but..."

Sky Fire moved closer to Scarlet. "Don't let all those turns of events destroy your spirit," she said sternly. "So you've found some things you can't do. That's what you got friends for! Do you know much about surviving in the wild? No, that's why you got me an' Blooper. Are you good at steering a ship? No, that's why you got Remy and his crew."

Scarlet chuffed as she settled her chin in the palms of her hands. "I think the Captain's about ready to throw me overboard for trying to take command of his ship last night."

"Oh nonsense." Sky Fire smirked. "Remy was just stressed out, that's all. Seeing his ship get torn up so much in one day was more than he could stand." She chuckled to herself, then spoke aloud. "I helped him relax. He should be more agreeable today."

Scarlet wrinkled her nose at the implication, but at the same time, managed a small smile. "Well, I didn't mean to be so overbearing. But you and I both know that Mystique's presence here can only mean trouble."

Sky Fire nodded her head in agreement. "I'm with you on that one, Scar. If you ask me, I think that gal's been sent here by Lord Magnus as a means of sabotage."

"No, I doubt that," Scarlet said as she sat up straight. "If Mystique was here because my father sent her, she would have destroyed the ship without speaking to any of us. She likes to get things done as fast as possible."

"A little patience goes a long way; a lesson you could stand to learn."

Toad stood in the doorway leading out of the mess hall with his back propped against its wooden frame. Now unmasked, it was from his mouth that the harsh comment had come. His irises burned red with the spell that had been cast on him, and a cruel smirk played upon his lips.

Scarlet's expression faltered as she looked at him. She fixed her mouth to say something, but the grip of Sky Fire's left hand on her right shoulder caused her to remain silent.

"What do you want," Sky Fire asked in a brash tone.

Toad continued to smirk at the two of them. "My Mistress is hungry. She sent me to fetch some food for her."

Scarlet chuffed in a mixture of disgust and disbelief. "Mistress? Fetch? Toad, do you even know how those words sound coming out of your mouth?" Once again, Sky Fire gripped her shoulder to keep her calm.

"Mystique can conjure up her own food," the dragonrider barked. "Only reason you're here is to aggravate Scarlet. She could've sent any one of those Hopperas here, and out of all of 'em she sent you?" She chuffed. "A likely coincidence."

"You can't tell me you're happy being controlled like this, Toad," Scarlet added with a shake of her head.

"And how would you know," Toad asked as he stood up straight. "You don't know what it's like to finally know what you're capable of! I know my limits, and they are nowhere NEAR where I was stopping at!"

"You're selling your soul for power," Scarlet yelled, her sorrow quickly turning to anger. "It's not worth it to have anything if it makes you someone else's slave!"

The wicked grin on Toad's face spread wider. "I'm glad you said that, Scarlet." His grin faded into a menacing frown. "'Cause our friendship has been nothing but _slavery_ to me. You dragged me out of Sabretooth's camp just so I could live in squalor and be your substitute for a brother you couldn't force to do your will!" He poked his own chest. "The gift that Mystique has given me, _you_ could have if you'd have learned to use your skills instead of running off like the brat you are!"

Scarlet rose from her seat with both her hands glowing red with energy. The boy had touched many nerves with his words and she was ready to kill him for it. Thankfully, Sky Fire still had her wits about her, and she rose to face Scarlet and block her view of the possessed Hoppera. "Now hold on there, Scarlet! You know the boy ain't well. Just look at his eyes. He's under Mystique's spell and those words he's spoutin' off are not his true feelings for you." She turned and focused her own glare on Toad. "You blast him now, and you might be doing just what the Sorceress wants."

Toad laughed cruelly at her words. "Clever slut, aren't we?"

"You get outta here before I convince Scarlet to blast you for good measure," Sky Fire snapped. "Go on! GET!" Toad's eyes flashed red as he grinned at the two women, then he turned and left the room.

Scarlet couldn't hold in her frustration any longer. Her powers were useless against the best of Lord Magnus' forces, the plan she made to quickly destroy her father was going to ruin, and now one of her earliest and true friends had been turned against her! The cry Scarlet let out carried an unnatural echo to it and her body emitted a glowing shockwave that went through La Gambit's hull. The force of her release caused the ship to tumble dangerously on the waves and several crewmen to lose their balance, as well as a few parts of the ship's rigging to fall. A yell came from the galley--a sign that the Blob had a bad encounter with the chowder he was making. But the worst result of Scarlet's release was clinging to La Gambit's hull.

When the ring of energy touched the first of the ship plants, it sliced through the plant like a machete through thick, jungle foliage. Afterwards, the plant instantly decayed and fell apart, dropping all of its passengers into the deep ocean. A few members of La Gambit's crew noticed this and raced to tell the Captain.

Remington sprinted to the upper deck, then stared with wide eyes as the ship plants were separated yet again. "What d'Hell jus' happened? Are we under attack?"

"No sir," one of the pirates replied. "Some red hoop came from the hull of La Gambit about the same time as that Scarlet lass's wail."

Scarlet. The name caused Remington's migraine to resurface--he was starting to regret agreeing to this venture. As he looked over his shoulder he called to Mystique, but the sorceress and her minions were nowhere to be found. Cursing silently to himself, he took to the helm once again.

When the Scarlet Witch and Sky Fire came up to the lower deck, they were both surprised and troubled by the sight of crewmen rushing to fix things that had been damaged around La Gambit. "I think you've really done it this time, Scar," Sky Fire whispered to her friend, then made her way to the upper deck.

Scarlet's hard expression masked the embarrassment she felt but when she saw what had happened to the ship plants, she could barely keep up her stoic guard. It took all of her remaining nerve to join Sky Fire and the Captain on the upper deck, and once there she waited for someone to notice her before speaking.

"Now, Remy, this ain't all Scarlet's fault," Sky Fire said as she approached the Captain from behind.

"Got bigger t'ings t'worry about den dat, chere," Remington said, then called out to his crew, "Prepare de cannons!"

  
  


As if the day couldn't be more peculiar, a black fog rolled in from La Gambit's starboard side and stopped twenty yards from it. When the fog lifted it revealed an ominous-looking ship made of the various parts of a sea dragon. The frame of the ship's hull had been constructed using the spine and ribcage, and the walls had been made from its scales which made a constant transition from purple to blue and back again. The bowsprit of the ship was made from the dragon's neckbones and the skull of the dragon was fixed underneath it as the beakhead. Large wings had been fashioned into two sails which were fixed to a mast made of tailbone. This ship was known as the Dragonhide--a vessel Remington knew all too well, even at a distance.

The Captain's face hardened and his onyx-colored eyes narrowed as he watched the ship turn to be parallel with his. "Morlocks." The word left a bad taste in his mouth; he knew what business the Morlocks had with him. They were pirates who reveled in the shroud of darkness, for it hid their deformities as well as their ship. Each crew member was a deformed and outcasted member of his or her race, scorned for not being of the norm. Callisto, their Captain, had taken each of them in overtime and provided a place where they could feel welcome. But, of all her crew, Clarice was the misfit Callisto valued most. Clarice was born with purple skin--a bad omen to her Elven clan. Because of this, she was persecuted as an infant, then abandoned as a child. Callisto took her in at a very young age and overtime the two had formed an almost mother/daughter relationship. By leaving the Morlocks, Clarice had broken the heart of their Captain, along with betraying their pirate code.

After straightening his belt and hat, Captain Remington made his way to the starboard rail and focused a smug look on the Dragonhide. "Ahoy, Callisto," he called, "what possessed you an' y'band o'sea rats t'come out of hiding, eh?"

A tall, masculine woman stepped up to the port rail of the Dragonhide and fixed a glare on him. Her right eye was covered by a black patch, but her left eye had enough hate in it for the both of them. "Cut the chit-cat, Remington," she shouted. "Hand over the girl."

Remington smirked as he hooked his thumbs in the pockets of his coat. "Hein? What Girl?" He gasped, feigning revolution. "Oh, y'mean my new cabin girl, oui?"

Callisto sneered. "Hand over Clarice or I will blast your ship into driftwood!"

"I t'ink not," the man said in a laugh, then signaled to his crew. All the crewmen on deck brandished their weapons or cracked their knuckles, and the ones below deck pushed La Gambit's cannons up to their firing hatches. "Y'see," Remington continued, "y'little pirate escapade is only good for gatherin' trash; worthless t'ings dat no one else wants." He took a moment to straighten his hat. "Clarice is not worthless. She's young an' deserves t'know what wonders de world can offer her."

Callisto seethed quietly as she listened to him talk. Her mouth parted to shout something back, but in that moment, she caught sight of the drifting ship plants out the corner of her eye. "Well, what do we have here," she called to La Gambit, a smirk building on her face. "Could this be some worthless trash you're throwing away?"

Remington shook his head at her. "Don' even t'ink about it, Callisto."

"Think about what," the woman asked with a hint of amusement. "I think it would be a fair trade. Two ship plants for one of my most precious crew members."

"Can' be dat precious t'you if y'trying to barter for her, neh? 'Sides, those ship plants are bearin' soldiers at rest. Y'd have no use for dem."

"Soldiers at rest? Well, that changes everything." Callisto's eye went narrow. "Hand over Clarice, or I will sink those ship plants."

Only Remington's right eyebrow twitched to recognize the validity of her statement. "Y'touch even one plant, and I'll see to it that you need two eye patches from now on."

Callisto chuckled to herself as she folded her arms across her chest, then she and Remington locked gazes. Behind her, all of the Morlocks stood ready with a battle-hungry look in their eyes and behind Remington, his crew had the same look. They all knew it would come to this; now they waited to see who would make the first move.

"FIRE!"

The skull of the Dragonhide lifted and its eyesockets blazed as it opened its maw. A fireball leaped from its jaws, aimed for the hull of a ship plant.

"ATTACK!"

As Remington threw up his arm, the four cannons on La Gambit's starboard side let loose a barrage of cannonballs at the Morlock vessel. Each cannonball smacked against the hull and chipped away at its scales, but none made enough of an impression to be considered useful damage. Still, the crew loaded their cannons and prepared to fire again, knowing that it would only be a matter of time before they broke through the hull of the Dragonhide.

When Callisto saw St. John rush over to put out the fire on the ship plant, she turned to her crew and shouted, "Steer the Dragonhide towards those plants! We'll crack them open yet!"

"Oh no you don'," Remington muttered to himself, then shouted to his crew, "Fire d'harpoon! Aim for d'middle of d'hull!"

"I got this one," the Blob said with a smile as he stepped up to the harpoon gun. He aimed with one eye closed, then barely flinched as the pressurized weapon discharged in the Dragonhide's direction.

The serrated head of the harpoon drove into the ship's hull and held it tightly as it was reeled in; most of the Morlocks were knocked off their feet by the jerk. After Callisto righted herself, she assessed the situation, then turned and spoke to one of her crew members. "Caliban, is there anything nearby that we can use?"

The Morlock she addressed gave a slow nod of his bald head. "Yeeeees, Callisto," he rasped. "There is a Runic Turtle not far from here."

"Good. Summon it. We'll board their ship, grab Clarice, then have the turtle put an end to LeBeau and his crew, once and for all." Callisto turned and shouted, "Send out the Dragon Claws! If they want the battle brought to them, we'll help speed the process!"

Two hatches opened on the port side of the Morlocks' vessel, and from them the crew fired a pair of skeletal dragon's claws on the ends of lengthy chains. When the claws reached La Gambit, they crashed through the ship's starboard rail and dug into its deck. This gave the Dragonhide the ability to reel in La Gambit while La Gambit reeled the Dragonhide in as well.

Even though he stood and watched the claws do damage to his ship, Captain Remington continued to wear a smile. He was in the midst of a battle that he had waited a long time for, and he knew how he wanted it to go; there was no greater thrill in the life of a swashbuckler. "Prepare y'selves, men! Dis is jus' what we been waitin' for!"

This time, Scarlet was determined to do something right. "I'm going to help," she stated as she positioned herself near Remington, but the Captain wouldn't hear of it.

"You wan' help? Go below deck an' hide Clarice." The last thing he needed was for one of her hexes to turn this battle in favor of the Morlocks.

"But Remy, I--"

"No but's! Jus' go, Scarlet." Remington looked at her with a commanding gaze, then turned back to the action at hand. Scarlet sighed bitterly as she gave into the Captain's request, convincing herself that hiding and protecting Clarice was enough of a task for her.

A few of the Morlocks were crawling across the thick chains of the dragon's claws when Remington gave the battle his attention once again. Smirking, he gripped the tip of his hat, charged it with kinetic energy, then threw it in the face of the closest Morlock. When the hat exploded, it damaged one of the chain links along with killing the pirate. The jolt from the explosion caused all the Morlocks who were still clinging to the chain to fall into the water between the two ships.

"Send some cannonballs in dere after 'em, men," Remington shouted as he dug into his pockets. While the cannons fired, he took a deck of cards from his right coat pocket and started flinging them, one by one, at the chains of the dragon claws. Each card was charged with kinetic energy and when it exploded, it chipped away at the chainlinks, making them too unstable to cross.

"Playin' de hand a'de coward, Callisto," Remington called as he casually flicked the cards. "Hearin' how much ya _love_ Clarice, I t'ought ya'd've been d'first t'swing over!"

Callisto didn't want to make a move until she knew that the Runic Turtle would be there to finish the job. She looked at Caliban, who stood with his eyes closed, hands clasped, and whispered words in an odd language. It seemed he was still trying to convince the turtle to help. Callisto had no choice but to meet Remington's challenge without her backup plan.

Remington was halfway through a second deck of cards when Callisto swung over, followed by a group of her closest crew members. They each paired off with a member of La Gambit's crew and began a scuffle; meanwhile, Callisto and Remington drew their cutlasses and clashed them together.

The two Captains put their weight behind their weapons as they pushed against each other. "Y'know, Callisto, y'ain' as clever as ya use'ta be," Remington said between grunts. "I saw dis stunt a'yers comin' from a mile away!" The Captains pushed away from each other, then dived aside as they took separate swings at one-another.

"Save your breath, Remington," Callisto said as she tightened her grip on her cutlass. "You'll need it for your final words! Who gave you the right to take Clarice away from me?"

Remington dodged one of her forward thrusts, and parried a few of her attempts to slice him from either side. "I didn' _take_ Clarice from ya! She left 'cause yer folktales 'bout how awful de world is still weren' enough t'keep her onder yer wing!"

From the crow's nest, Atrophy shouted suddenly, "Captain Remington! Most of the Morlocks have been tossed overboard!" This made Remington smile once again; Callisto, on the other hand, seethed when she heard the status of her crew.

"Now. I tell y'what I'm gonna do," Remington said to her as he lowered his sword. "Y'see m'heavy-set crewman over dere?" The two Captains glanced at the Blob, who slapped his abdomen and laughed as he stood next to La Gambit's port rail. "I'm gonna give y'til de count of three t'get off my vessel. Den, if even a foot is still on one o'La Gambit's rails, I'll have Blob use his bulk t'put a hole in your precious dragon carcass. One...."

Callisto looked towards her ship and to where Caliban was standing--he was no longer praying.

"Two..."

She then looked for any remaining members of her crew on La Gambit. There were a few, though they were all being ushered overboard.

"Three." Remington pushed a few strands of his auburn hair out of his face, then signaled to his crewman. "Blob?"

"Wait." Callisto lowered her weapon. "I will leave your ship, Remington, but only after you give Clarice back to me."

The man rolled his eyes at her. "Haven't we already been t'rough dis?" He waved his sword in the woman's general direction. "Y'can't have Clarice!"

"You won't be able to stop me from taking her. Not with what you'll have to deal with." Callisto turned in the direction of her ship and shouted, "Caliban! Tell it to attack the ship plants!"

"It?" Remington turned his attention to a sudden crash of waves near the drifting ship plants. The head of an enormous, gray turtle broke the ocean's surface and immediately took a bite out of one plant's hull. When the rest of the turtle's body emerged, it swung at the other plant with one of its claws and sliced through its deck. Clenching his teeth was all Remington could do to keep himself from cursing loud and long at seeing this.

With her distraction in place, Callisto wasted little time darting for the nearest portal leading into La Gambit's hold. Remington saw her movements out the corner of his eye, but at the time she was only half of his worries. "Colossus, come wit' me! De rest o' you, get to dat turtle an' get rid o'it!" The Captain sheathed his sword as he marched down one of the hull portals.

  
  


All of Callisto's senses were tuned to finding Clarice. Her eye searched for clues on her whereabouts; her ears listened for the nervous scuffle of feet. Turning a corner in the hallway, her nose caught the scent of a light perfume she had known Clarice to wear. It was coming from the mess hall, along with another scent--a foreign one.

Callisto brandished a small knife in her right hand as she slowly pushed on the door with her left. The room was empty, but the scent still lingered. Her gaze fell on the door to the galley and she marched in that direction without hesitation. But, just as her hand touched the door to push it in, the entrance door to the mess hall came crashing open.

"CALLISTO!" Remington took up most of the doorway and gave her a 'come hither' motion with his hands.

"AHHHHH!" The woman had all she could stand of him. Without thinking, Callisto raced across the room and dived at Remington, knife-first. Just as she reached him, the man dropped to his knees and revealed Colossus, who was standing right behind him. The blade of Callisto's knife broke in two as it bounced off Colossus' metalized chest, then his fist came forward and hit her square in the jaw, sending the woman flying back into one of the tables of the mess hall.

Hearing the cry and crash of Callisto brought Clarice out of hiding, with Scarlet not far behind. When the girl saw her former caretaker being hefted up by the back of her coat, she rushed for the chance to plea for mercy.

"No, don't hurt her," Clarice cried out as she tugged on Remington's coat. He wasn't pleased to see her in this situation.

"Clarice? Y'supposed to be hidden!" Remington focused a frown on Scarlet. "You're supposed t'be keeping her hidden!"

Scarlet returned the frown with one of her own. "She wanted to look. I wasn't going to hold her down," she shot back, tired of being talked down to.

While those two exchanged glares, Callisto took it upon herself to speak to Clarice. "See what you're getting yourself into, little one?" Her voice was quiet and tired--barely manageable through the pain of her broken jaw.

Clarice could barely manage her voice as well, due to the choked sobs that developed in her throat. Seeing Callisto being treated in such a manner was painful to her, even if she knew the woman had brought it on herself. "I'm sorry I ran away, Callisto," the child sobbed. "I just wanted to see what things would be like on another ship."

By then, Remington had turned his attention back to the Morlock and her former charge, but he remained silent. "And are you satisfied, Clarice," Callisto asked. "Have you seen all you need to see? May we go home now?"

Clarice looked to Colossus, Scarlet and Remington, then back to Callisto. All of them had different expressions on their faces, none of which that helped her say what she had to say. "I'm... sorry, Callisto," the child began, "but I can't go. I... I won't. Remington is showing me the world in a new light; I want to see that the world is more than a place for us to hide in." Her eyes overflowed with tears. "Callisto, you told me that no one would accept me because of the way I looked. Well, La Gambit's crew accepted me, and I've already been to a couple of places where no one cared about my skin. In fact, a couple of people were impressed! Just let me have this adventure, Callisto. I'll never forget you for raising me, but... I just have to move on."

The air fell silent as everyone waited for Callisto's reply. Remington signaled for Colossus to let the woman down, and he complied. There was no longer any danger of her doing something rash; her reason for attacking La Gambit no longer existed.

As the moment lingered, Callisto's expression settled into a sincere smile. Her eye focused a soft gaze on Clarice, then with a quiet nod, she turned and walked away. No words, no emotions--silence was her only reply.

  
  


Above deck, La Gambit's crew watched quietly as Callisto walked to the starboard rail of the ship and jumped overboard. The cool water washed away any tears that dared to show on her face, and when she surfaced, she was too soaked for anyone to tell that her eye had started crying. Along with other members of her defeated crew, she swam quietly back to the Dragonhide and waited to be picked up.

As several rope ladders were rolled down the side of the Morlock's ship, Captain Remington made his way to the deck of La Gambit with Clarice in tow. The girl watched with a heavy heart while a blanket of dark fog enveloped the Dragonhide. Then, her grip tightened around Remington's hand as the fog rolled away, taking the ship and its passengers with it.

Without realizing her actions, Clarice buried her face in the side of Remington's coat and clung to him while she sobbed. The Captain brought a hand to rest on her shoulder, but said nothing to her in regards of the situation; instead, he turned his attention on the welfare of his vessel. "Atrophy, give me a status report."

"We've got a few holes to patch up, Captain," Atrophy called from the helm. "The starboard rail needs replacing, too, but otherwise the ship is fine."

Remington turned his gaze on Saint John. "An' de ship plants?"

The priest shook his head sadly. "Sorry, Cap'n. That overgrown tortoise took a bite outta each plant, and that was all she wrote."

"Did y'at least try t'save any of de soldiers wit'in dem?"

Saint John shrugged. "We tried. The Runic Turtle wouldn't let us get close enough. By the time we killed it, they had all sunk into the water with the plants."

Remington steadily lowered to his knees as he took in the bad news. Clarice was still clinging to him and crying, so eventually she ended up with her head on his shoulder and her arms around his neck. "Five-hun'red men trusted dey'lives t'us, an' all we managed t'preserve is one," the Captain whispered as he slowly shook his head. His gaze trailed up to Scarlet, who stood not far from him. "We are wit'out an army. Y'still willin' t'go through wit' your plan?"

The witch bit her bottom lip to prevent herself from unconsciously answering the question. Her default response was yes, but doubt had settled itself in her mind and she was no longer certain that she could see her plan through. "I--" Scarlet stopped herself from speaking again, still hesitant to say yes or no.

Just then, Mystique and the Hopperas appeared on the deck in a flash and swirl of crimson mist. "Don't tell me you're going to let this little setback stop you from finishing your duty," the sorceress said as she looked around.

Captain Remington's left eyelid twitched as he turned his head to look at her. "An' jus' where de Hell have you been," he barked as he pulled himself to his feet, now with Clarice in his arms. "Y'took off just conveniently enough when we could've used your magic!"

"If you must know..." Mystique took a moment to send out a wave of magic that repaired the damage done to La Gambit. "I was hungry, but your galley wench and the Scarlet Witch refused my minion's request for a meal. Therefore, I was forced to go find my own food for the time being."

"Liar," Scarlet called out angrily. "You could have conjured up your own food! You left because you knew this was going to happen! You wanted the ship plants to be--"

"SHUT UP!" Remington focused a glare on both women. "De BOTH of you! J'ai eu essez! I'm sick of de two of you going at each other like children tryin' t'see who can get de other into de most trouble! Tu est, tres nombriliste! People have DIED, d'you understand dat? People have died 'cause de two of you refuse t'cooperate unless y'get to be in charge!" He poked himself in the chest with his thumb. "Dis, is mon navire. MY VESSEL! _I_ am de Captain, _I_ am in charge! IF neither o'you will do as I say, _when_ I say it, THEN GET DE HELL OFF MY SHIP, J'EMBALLE! EN CE MOMENT!"

Whenever his speech became that incoherent, it meant that the Captain was greatly pissed off. His crewmen knew it, and each of them took several steps back while he made his rant; however, Scarlet and Mystique remained where they stood. Neither woman felt intimidated by Remington's rant, although Scarlet's face no longer registered anger. She still frowned, but that was part of her neutral expression. Mystique, on the other hand, maintained her smirk. She listened to Remington rave and when it was all over, she exchanged casual glances with her minions before addressing the Captain.

"I have healed your ship twice now. Is that not a sign that I am being cooperative?" The sorceress gave a slow nod to Remington. "Very well. Let me further prove to you that I wish this partnership to function." She tapped her staff on the ground once. The cursed kitten appeared in a swirl of energy on the deck of La Gambit where everyone could see her. With another tap, Mystique ended the curse and the kitten instantly reverted back to Princess Felicity.

"Huh? Wha?" The Princess looked around, then patted herself in various places to make sure she was all there. "Yes! I'm back!"

Mystique then turned her attention to the Hopperas. "Toad." The boy stepped forward, and she tapped his head with the orb of her staff. "Keep your wisdom, but you no longer serve me."

Toad swayed momentarily as the spell left him, then when he regained his senses, he rushed to Scarlet and humbled himself near her. "Oh man, Scarlet! I am SO sorry for all that crap I said! I didn't mean any of it, honest!"

"I know you didn't, Toad," the Scarlet Witch replied, keeping her glare focused on Mystique. "So you've freed a few people from your treacherous grasp," she said to the sorceress. "What does that prove?"

"It proves that I am willing to cooperate," Mystique replied. "I have given you back your surrogate brother, and turned that annoying feline back to her former self." She turned her attention to Remington. "Captain, I am willing to give you my full cooperation during the remainder of this voyage."

"Dat's all I ask," the man stated in a quiet tone, then checked Clarice to see if she was still awake. She had her head resting on his shoulder, her eyes closed, and her arms slowly slipping from around his neck. "Stay d'course, men. Only a few more days 'fore we reach Asterum." Remington moved towards his cabin, carrying the young girl with him.

The crew dispersed and quietly went back to their duties on La Gambit. Mystique settled herself on a chair she conjured, and the Hopperas sat around her protectively. Scarlet watched everyone go for what peace they could find at that moment, then she was startled by the feel of a hand resting on her left shoulder. When she turned to see who the hand belonged to, she was both relieved and surprised to find that it was her brother.

"Quicksilver! You're on your feet again!" Scarlet looked at his chest for any signs of damage. "Are you fully healed?"

"As far as I can tell," the man replied, then focused his attention on Toad. His gaze locked with the Hoppera's and, for a moment, they exchanged knowing looks with each other. Toad remembered how Quicksilver had threatened his life before--all he had to do was tell Scarlet and it would have been all over for their building relationship. Yet, the boy kept quiet. Thanks to Mystique, Toad was a wiser person and he knew that the incident in the forest was no longer worth talking about. Quicksilver could see it in his eyes that he knew this, so for a split second he offered him a smirk of acknowledgment to the boy.

"We're only two days away from Asterum," Scarlet said as she interrupted their moment. "Are you going to make the run now?"

"First to a tailor, then to father," Quicksilver replied, looking down at his bare chest, then he focused his attention on his sister. "Thanks for putting up with me. I'm not good at this sentimental crap when I'm not trying to get something out of someone, so that's prettymuch all I can say."

Scarlet smirked nonetheless. "It'll do. See you when we reach Asterum."

"If you see a big, welcome banner waving on the shore, you'll know my smooth-talking paid off somehow," Quicksilver said as he returned his sister's smirk, then his expression became serious. "Take care of yourself, Scarlet. And if it comes to blows, remember: Magic does not work on anything from the land of Asterum, including our father." He lifted a hand to wave to her and as the hand made the motion, his figure faded away in a blur that signaled his departure.


	4. Chapter 4

**The Awesome Power of the Scarlet Witch**

  
  


The body of Sabretooth dangled like a grim ornament in the midst of Lord Magnus' throne room. It was mutilated and wrapped in barbed chains that kept him suspended more than forty feet off the ground. His black blood dripped into a puddle that spread across the tiling beneath him, and his arms and legs twitched on occasion--a sign that he was still alive.

From his throne, Lord Magnus took to biding his time while he watched the blood run like sand in an hourglass. Over the past few days he had thrown most of his naval offensive at La Gambit--not a single automaton returned. He knew that Mystique was behind the success of the vessel; no wooden barge could withstand the might of his iron creations otherwise. As the lord dwelled on his former minion's double cross, the verse that he had heard many years ago began to play in his mind:

_I see it in your eyes_  
_Even hiding they tell no lies_  
_A silver fox and its scarlet kin_  
_They'll be the ones to do you in_  
_An avalanche will bury the kin_  
_But later, love and honor her whim_  
_Live by land, sleep by sea_  
_Aid from utmost treachery_  
_My visions do not lie, my friend_  
_An eye will blink and you'll find your end_

"A silver fox and its scarlet kin." Lord Magnus slammed his right fist against the arm of his throne as he dwelled on that phrase. How could it be that he would conceive his own demise? He knew how. Years ago, he fell prey to a moment of lustful weakness with a mortal woman. "When I learned that she was pregnant," he thought to himself, "I should have destroyed her then and there." But no--something within him wouldn't allow him to do that. Fate, that awesome mistress of the universe, was having Her way with his existence, slowly weaving for him a slow and bitter end.

The Lord refused to believe that he could be controlled so easily; he refused to believe that the prophecy would come true. And why would it? For that to happen, both of his children would have to be against him, and Magnus knew that Quicksilver was still on his side. As long as he had his son's loyalty, his concern was unwarranted.

The brooding silence was broken by a roar of wind as Quicksilver ran into the throne room and stopped just short of stepping in the bloody puddle. He wrinkled his nose as he stared at it, then took a moment to adjust the sleeves of his new, teal, knee-length jacket. "Father, we need to talk." He didn't waste time with a fancy 'I've returned' conversation; he knew that would only make things worse.

"If it is about your sister, then you can keep your speech to yourself," Lord Magnus said as the light dimmed in his eyes. He almost didn't want to see the signs that his son was turning against him, though he knew this was one of them.

"I can't," Quicksilver admitted. "Scarlet's on her way here now, father, with the sole intent of killing you!"

"So let her come. She will learn first-hand why that decision is one of folly."

Quicksilver shook his head rapidly at his father's words. "No, no, no! I won't have you killing each other over an age-old vendetta! If the two of you would stop being stubborn and just sit down, and talk to each other--" His words were cut off by a sudden clap of thunder.

"You seem to forget who is the father and who is the son," Lord Magnus stated once the noise quieted down. Once again, his eyes burned with a blue light. "I am not obligated to speak with the Scarlet Witch over any matter. She chose her path when she went to live amongst the mortals."

"But she's willing to cooperate..."

"No. She is willing to have her way." Magnus took a moment to sit up straighter than he had been. "You have spent too much time under your sister's tainted influence. Have you forgotten what we are working toward here?"

Quicksilver replied with a single nod and a look of indifference. "Yes, father. _Please_ refresh my memory."

"This world is impure. I have been charged with its cleansing. You and your sister are meant to assist me in that cleansing."

"But does it have to be so brutal?" The young man shook his head. "Did you have to employ demons like Sabretooth and Mystique? If this is a real cleansing, shouldn't it take, gee I dunno, maybe a little less than a year, rather than however many centuries you've been here?"

"ENOUGH." Lord Magnus stood from his throne and lifted into the air. "How DARE you question my method of operation. What I do to this world and how I do it is _MY_ business and _MY_BUSINESS ALONE. If you are not with me, Quicksilver, you will learn to rue that decision just as your sister will when I am through with her." The lord slowly floated towards the doors of his throne room. "Go to your room, boy. I will deal with you after I tend to other matters."

Boy? Quicksilver hadn't been referred to as a child since he was sent on his first successful mission, many years ago. At that moment, he knew he had fallen too far out of favor with his father to keep this conversation up. When the doors of the throne room opened to let Lord Magnus out, Quicksilver dashed out as well, headed for his portion of the tower as he had been commanded to go. He was upset by this difficult turn of events, but he knew that openly defying his father would only make things worse.

  
  


Lancelot's awakening was not as pleasant as it could have been. As soon as he sat up, he knew something was wrong. He tore from the hold of La Gambit and almost tripped as he stepped up to the port rail to look around. The beachfront of Asterum was only a kilometer away from the head of the ship, but to La Gambit's aft, no ship plants could be found. Alarm washed over the knight as he looked around for someone to explain the situation to him.

It didn't take long for Scarlet to notice Lancelot wandering the lower deck, then she immediately dropped the supplies she carried and ran over to him. She knew why he behaved so frantically, and that it was her responsibility to tell him what happened to the other knights.

"Lance, calm down," Scarlet said as she grabbed a hold of him.

"Where are my brothers in arms," the man asked in a worried tone.

There was no simple way to say what had to be said. "They didn't make it, Lance. We were attacked twice; once by one of Lord Magnus' creations, and another time by someone with a vendetta against Remington." Scarlet hesitated to finish her explanation. "I... also, destroyed one of the ships. Not intentionally, though. It just..." Her words faded as she watched him sink to the deck. "...happened."

Lancelot's armor suddenly felt ten times heavier as he sat down and leaned his back against the port rail. "Armace... Spearhold... Dirkwood, Javelin and Swordstrong." He shook his head sadly. "I could call all of their names repeatedly, but it would bring none of them back."

Scarlet knit her brow quietly as she looked away from him. She couldn't begin to imagine what he felt at that moment. "I'll understand if you wish to stay here, instead of going on to Asterum with me." It was all the comfort she could offer him.

For a moment, Lancelot's eyes seemed to glaze over with suppressed tears. But, when Scarlet made her offer, he quickly blinked them away. "Scarlet, I promised that I would see to it that you reached your father," he said, his voice holding back a tone of upset. "Now, I cannot go back on my promise. And my brothers did not die in vain. They fought the good fight at Newark, freeing an entire region from the grasp of evil."

Scarlet couldn't believe his perseverance. "But you're the only one left. The rest of your guild has been destroyed..."

"Nay, fair Scarlet." Lancelot pulled himself to a stand. "As long as there is an earth, there will be Terra Firma knights to protect it. Just as my brothers have died, others will be born to take their place." He took a deep breath to help calm his nerves. "Now. If you will allow me, I shall fulfill my duty to you."

She couldn't argue with his logic. "Very well," Scarlet said with a positive nod. "I won't fence you if you really want to go."

"Good," Captain Remington said as he stepped up to the two of them. Behind him stood the Blob, Colossus, Saint John and Atrophy. "Hopefully, y'll afford us de same courtesy."

The witch looked at the Captain with uncertainty. "Remy? But after all the trouble I caused..."

"What's happened is in de past, chere, as is every second dat goes by, neh," Remington commented with a smile. "'Sides, we won't be on my ship, so dere's no danger o'you causing it any harm." He winked to signify his jest.

As she moved to join the group, Sky Fire added, "And I threatened his manhood if he didn't get off his rump and help you." The Captain rolled his eyes at her remark, but still put an arm around her waist affectionately.

"What about the rest of you," Scarlet asked as she looked to the crewmen that followed him over. "You guys want to come as well?"

The Blob laughed as he slapped his belly repeatedly. "Do you have to ask? You know I'm all for action!"

"You're going to need a healer," Atrophy stated. "I'm kinda the only one the ship has."

"We ain't the kinda blokes that'd leave you high and dry," Saint John added.

"Where the Captain goes, so too do I," Colossus said with a definite nod.

After his crew members spoke, Remington focused a smile on the Scarlet Witch. "See? We're all prepared for dis. De rest of my crew will stay an' keep de ship for our return." He looked to the knight. "Sir Lance, would y'like your horse brought up?"

"No," Lancelot replied, adding a shake of his head. "For this journey, I prefer to be on foot."

"Grand. Den shall we go?"

A single life boat left for the shore of Asterum, bearing Colossus, Blob, Toad, Atrophy, Lancelot and the Scarlet Witch. Captain Remington rode on the back of Blooper with Sky Fire, and Saint John followed on Pyro. Mystique flew ahead in the form of an Albatross and carried the frog-formed Hopperas with her.

  
  


When they arrived at the black sand beach, the Blob and Colossus leaped out of the boat and pushed it close enough to be parked in the sand. Mystique turned herself and the Hopperas back to their normal forms while she waited for the others to catch up, then she began explaining the situation. "The army of Lord Magnus was child's play compared to what you will have to encounter here." She motioned to the cliff face that encompassed the beach. "Beyond that is the Death Forest, where the elite servants of Lord Magnus rest and wait to be called upon."

"Is that the most direct path to my father," Scarlet asked.

"Land-wise, yes. There is a thin crevice in the cliff face that leads to it. Beyond the Death Forest is a swamp that surrounds the Asterum Spire."

Scarlet had been gone for so long, she vaguely remembered the swamp or the forest. "All right. Let's go."

"An' what about de Blob," Remington asked as he motioned to his crewman. "A thin crevice isn't goin' t'accomodate him."

"I'll have Blooper dig it out some when we get there," Sky Fire replied, and with that matter settled, the group began to follow Mystique and her minions in the direction she had previously indicated.

Not two steps had been taken before the ground started to move underneath the feet of a few of them. Colossus and Atrophy were thrown in different directions as a massive dragon's head unearthed from the sand beneath them. The head was half the size of Blooper's entire body, and what followed it gave Scarlet and her followers reason to be alarmed.

The body of the dragon burst from the beach and shook sand in all directions. It was an unnatural creature, composed entirely of cast iron with ridges and sections like an armor-plated skeleton. Flames flickered within its eye sockets and pistons pumped visibly within its rib cage, perpetually fueling the fire that burned where its heart would be. Billows pumped smoke out of its nostrils as it scratched at the ground with its massive claws.

"What the Hell is that," Toad said as he leaped behind Sir Lancelot.

Mystique's grip tightened around her staff. "That, is Mekan Ikull, "she replied with a sour expression. "It is Lord Magnus' greatest invention."

The Blob cracked his knuckles, then chuffed as he stepped forward to meet this new challenge. "It's about to become his greatest pile of scrap," he boasted. "Watch me work."

Slowly the others started to follow him, but before they could get too far, Mystique called for their attention. "DON'T BE FOOLS!" Except for the Blob, everyone stopped in their tracks.

"I ain't being a fool," the man said as he stopped a few feet away from the dragon. "Besides. What's this tin can got that I ain't immune to?"

Mekan Ikull poised itself like a cat ready to pounce, then lowered its head until it was level with the man's body. Its maw creaked open just as Blob reached back for a punch, then it exhaled a cloud of grey gas that enveloped him.

"Don't touch that cloud," Mystique called to the others, knowing it was too late for the Blob. When the cloud dispersed, it revealed the man frozen in his reared-back stance, his body turned to stone.

Wide eyes registered this amongst the gathered crowd. "Mekan Ikull has Gorgon Breath," Mystique informed them. "One touch of that cloud and it's the end of you. Now come on! The crevice isn't far from here!" She turned to continue walking.

"But what about de Blob," Remington asked, and Mekan Ikull gave its own answer. It roared as it stomped forward to pursue the travelers--stepping over the Blob in the process--but as it made its way across the beach, its tail lashed out, purposely knocking the head and raised arm off the stonecast man.

Scarlet and her friends were stunned by this act, but there was nothing they could do. Lancelot and Remington pulled their weapons with the intent of exacting revenge, but once again Mystique commanded otherwise. "Now is not the time to challenge Mekan," she shouted. "Unless you want to end up like your friend, I suggest you move. NOW!"

Despite their anger, the two men turned and did as they were told. As Mekan Ikull sped up his gait, they took off running towards a crack in the cliff face that could be seen several yards from where they were. During their run, Sir Lancelot waited until the others had passed him, then he plunged the blade of his sword in the sand behind him. Two cracks traced the ground in a wide circle away from the sword and when Mekan Ikull stepped in the midst of the circle, the ground gave way underneath it. The beast sank beneath the surface of the sand until only its head could be seen, but it barely cried out as it found itself in this predicament.

Lancelot felt an empty satisfaction as he turned to join the others. Then, as he settled into a jogging pace, he heard the familiar creak of Mekan Ikull's opening maw and couldn't help but turn to look. Three iron spearheads flew out the back of Mekan Ikull's throat, each attached to a thick chain that seemed endless. The spearheads cut the air as they sped past Lancelot and when the knight realized that he wasn't the target, he turned to see where the projectiles were headed.

"Ahhhhh!" Toad and Atrophy cried out as a chain wrapped itself around each of them and immediately started reeling them back to Mekan Ikull's gaping jaw. The third spearhead tried to strike Colossus in the back, but he metalized himself just in time and the spear bounced harmlessly off of him.

With a grunt, Lancelot swung at the chains and managed to fully sever the one that was reeling in Toad; however, the chain that pulled on Atrophy only sustained partial damage and was able to continue reeling him in. The chain that bounced off Colossus suddenly came alive and swept across the sand, knocking all of the travelers off their feet before retracting to Mekan Ikull's throat.

"Help me," Atrophy cried out, reaching for Lancelot as he passed him. The knight extended a gauntlet in an effort to grab hold, but the loose chain slapped him aside so he couldn't help. All of the chains wrapped themselves tightly around Atrophy as he reached Mekan Ikull's maw, then as the boy cried out in terror, the dragon exhaled a cone of fire that engulfed him.

Mekan Ikull's jaws slammed shut after the fire left its mouth. Then, it pulled itself out of the sand with ease and continued its pursuit of Scarlet and her remaining friends. By this time, Mystique had reached the crevice she previously pointed out, and there she impatiently waited for the others to catch up. "Do any more of you wish to perish," the sorceress shouted. "Don't challenge that thing, just run!"

The terror-filled relay race lasted only a few seconds more before the group reached the safety of the crevice. All of the Hopperas--including Toad--were the first to hop in, followed by Scarlet and Colossus. Sky Fire flew over the cliff face on Blooper's back, and Saint John did the same using Pyro. Remington waited outside the mouth of the fissure for Lancelot to catch up and when he did, the two locked hands and the Captain pulled the knight in just in time to avoid the mechanical dragon's jaws. Mekan Ikull slammed face-first into the cliff face, but its head was far too big at each dimension to fit within the crevice.

  
  


Because of how they fell into the tunnel beyond the crevice, Sir Lancelot and Captain Remington needed help breaking away from each other. "De bottom's a fine place t'be," the Captain commented, "but not when it's under someone as heavy as you, homme." His comment sparked a brief but welcome laugh from most of those present. Then, Mystique brought them back to the severity of the moment.

"Mekan Ikull is not a creature to be trifled with," she stated bluntly. "It is the culmination of decades of work on Lord Magnus' part. Of all the inventions he has ever manufactured, _that_ one is the most cunning and independent, and it will _not_ be defeated by a simple swing of the sword!"

"After seein' de Blob an' Atrophy die, I should t'ink dat we're all quite aware o'dat by now," Remington said as he dusted off his clothes.

"I hope you didn't expect all of you to return from this unscathed," the sorceress stated coldly, then turned to walk on. "This tunnel ventures all the way through the cliff face. We will meet Sky Fire and Saint John on the other side.

As the group moved on, they looked back and noticed how furiously Mekan Ikull tore away at the crevice with its massive claws in an effort to reach them. Fortunately, the cliff walls were very thick, and the creature's iron claws couldn't tear away enough each time to make any real progress. When the travelers left its sights, Mekan Ikull stopped digging and turned away from the cliff. It could have used its chains to reach them; it could have shot fire or gas in the tunnel after them. Mekan Ikull had other plans for the travelers, so once it saw that they were on their way, it burrowed below the black sand and headed for its next destination.

  
  


"This is so not fair." Quicksilver said this to himself numerous times as he paced the floor of his massive bedroom. In the little time that he was there, he had paced so frequently that he left several trenches in the floor. When the last trench became knee-deep, the man stopped and looked around his room for something else to do.

In her bat form, Rogue came out of hiding and perched on the massive, silver chandelier that dangled over the center of the room. When she reverted to her human form, the chandelier managed to hold her weight without shaking. Rogue glanced at the trenches made by Quicksilver's walking, whistled casually to gain his attention, then spoke. "That's some fancy footwork you got there."

The man looked up at her. "You!" Normally he wasn't happy to see Mystique's spy, but sheer boredom had made him appreciative of her presence. Quicksilver ran up a wall and across the ceiling to reach the chandelier and once there, he sat on an arm closest to the Rogue. The chandelier continued to hold their weight. "I would ask how you got here so fast," Quicksilver commented, "but since you're someone to talk to, I don't really care." His eyes widened as he looked at the floor and saw what he had done. Each trench came together in a way that formed letters and together those letters spelled out five words: _This is so not fair._

"Guess I have a one-track mind," Quicksilver said as he started the chandelier in a slow, swinging motion. The Rogue smirked and joined him in the swinging.

"So. What's got you so agitated," she asked him.

"Father sent me to my room." He grumbled, his face turning sour. "What does he think I am? Some sort of child? I've been a loyal soldier of his ever since I could go into battle! Couldn't he spare a few minutes to hear me out?"

This was the moment the Rogue had been waiting for. Mystique told her it would come; all she had to do was stick to her mentor's plan. "Your father didn't want to hear you out, because he didn't want to face the moment of your betrayal."

Quicksilver focused a quiet look on her. "What are you talking about," he asked after a moment of silence.

"Your moment of betrayal." The Rogue smiled knowingly. "It was written in the stars that you and your sister would end Lord Magnus' reign over the Earth."

Again Quicksilver stared at her quietly. He had known her to say strange things before to throw him off a loop--usually the Rogue was trying to gain information for her scheming mentor. After reminding himself of this, Quicksilver took a moment to laugh. "Cute. You don't say much that can amuse me, Rogue. Thanks for the laugh."

Her smile turned into a smirk. "Laugh if you want, but it's all true. Remember, I come from a sorceress's guild; we find these things out on a daily basis."

The joke became annoying to Quicksilver. "Yeah, right. Like father would have let either of us be born if he had known we were destined to destroy him."

"Oh, he knew. Just ask him. Not that he'll tell you the truth, but, the way he'll dodge the issue should be enough to prove my point."

The man's eyes narrowed slowly as he listened to her speak. Rogue was a clever liar, but the way his father had been behaving lately almost validated her latest fabrication. Quicksilver mulled over her words for two seconds, then said, "Fine. I think I will." He ran back across the ceiling and down the wall to reach the floor of his room, then made his way to the double doors that marked the room's entrance. They opened quickly to let him out, but just as Quicksilver took one step past the doors, he hit an invisible force field that bounced him back and sent him tumbling across the floor. When he was stopped by the large pillows of his bedding, Quicksilver focused a look of surprise and confusion on his room's entrance.

The Rogue was also surprised by this, so she leaped from the chandelier and went to investigate the way in. While walking towards it, she pulled a brown staff from thin air, then pointed its jeweled tip towards the invisible field. A bolt of blue lightning jumped from the staff's sapphire and struck the field; the spell it carried caused the field to be visible for ten seconds.

Quicksilver scrambled to his feet and looked around his room. Even through the high-set windows, shimmers could be seen running the length of the force field, suggesting that it surrounded the room entirely. "What the Hell is this," the man said as he stepped away from his bed.

"Now do you believe me," Rogue asked as she released her staff. The staff fell to the floor and disappeared before it had a chance to hit the ground. "He's keepin' you in here so you can't team up with your sister."

"_No_, I DON'T believe you," Quicksilver said in a nasty tone, then ran back to the entrance and started feeling out the force field. "All this proves is that my father is about to do something that he doesn't want me to interfere with!"

"And just what do you think that somethin' is?" Rogue shook her head at him. "If Scarlet's on this island, you know what Magnus is going to do to her. Do you think he made Mekan Ikull all those years ago just to have it wander a dead hunting ground?"

"Mekan Ikull is _not_ going to hunt down my sister," Quicksilver said in a tone of denial. "She's flesh and blood! Father would NOT be that cruel!"

"Wake up, Q," Rogue yelled. "Your father's chased after your sister for a decade! You think after ten years he'd be desperately tryin' to convince her to be part of the family again?"

Quicksilver sneered at the Rogue as he turned to face her. "Shut up," he snapped. "I don't believe in your stupid prophecy, all right?" He turned back to the force field. "But... I don't doubt that father would punish Scarlet for leaving." The man grumbled loudly. "Damn those two for being so disagreeable! Now I've got to convince Scarlet to turn back before she gets herself killed."

"And how do you propose to do that from behind this force field," Rogue inquired.

"You'll see," Quicksilver replied, then sat down to concentrate.

  
  


The howl of wind rustling through hollow tree trunks filled the air around the Death Forest. All the leaves had long-since fallen off the trees, exposing the earth to perpetual clouds of gloom. From one end to the next, the mutilated corpses of iron cyborgs could be seen in their final poses, holding death grips on the weapons they wielded. The acrid smell of blood and oil, coupled with the morbid appeal of dead warriors, made the forest a far less welcoming sight than the black sand beach.

The forest's stench hit the travelers even before they left the cave, and it was no better once they were out in the open. Captain Remington and his remaining crewmen covered their noses with bandanas, and the Hopperas put their ninja hoods back on, but the others were left to use their hands and what rags they could pull from their clothes. "What is this place," Scarlet asked between coughs.

"The Death Forest," Mystique replied, showing little signs of being bothered by the forest's stench. "This is where Lord Magnus sends his creations to battle each other and test their weaknesses. Those that survive the ordeal are sent to carry out his will, while the others are systematically repaired and improved."

As they began a trek through the dark terrain, Sir Lancelot gave pause to examine some of the corpses they passed. "Most of these automatons appear to be men with iron augments," he observed.

"They are," Mystique admitted. "All of them were, at some point, invited to Asterum to become elite soldiers in Magnus' army." She smirked as she informed him, "You, too, would have become one, if you had accepted the invitation that was sent to you months ago."

Lancelot stopped after hearing her words. "So, this would have been my fate had I chosen to keep going," he thought to himself, then turned to walk on. Seeing those bodies was all the proof he needed that he was doing the right thing.

The pace through the forest was long, but gladly without incident, and when the dragonriders caught up they joined the slow procession. Visually, it was difficult to tell when the forest ended and the swamp began, but Mystique made certain to point it out to the others. "The swamp is but a few yards from here. Watch your step when you reach it; some of those pools of water go deep enough to swallow you whole." She continued walking at a steady pace, though eventually she noticed a lag in the others and stopped to look at them. "Don't tell me you're all fatigued," the sorceress said in disgust.

"De air here is hardly breathable," Captain Remington called through the muffle of his bandana. "It's a miracle we've gone dis far already."

"Can't you do something about this air," Scarlet asked Mystique.

"We shouldn't stop here," the sorceress stated. "It is no coincidence that we have yet to be attacked. I suspect your father is waiting for the right moment to strike, and this could be it."

"Well, if you could just make it easier to breathe--" Scarlet's words were interrupted by the sudden appearance of a swirling orb of energy in front of her. To her surprise, her brother's face appeared in the center of the orb. "Quicksilver? ... How?"

"A little traveling gift from father," the man replied, forcing himself to smile. "So. I don't suppose you saw my welcome banner..."

Scarlet looked around at her traveling companions. Everyone found a place to rest except for Mystique, who stood away from them all. "Must have missed it," the witch replied with a small smile of her own.

"Yeah, you probably just landed on the wrong shore." Quicksilver cleared his throat before speaking again. "Scarlet, where exactly are you right now?"

"At the end of the Death Forest. We're about to enter the swamp."

He shook his head rapidly at this. "No, Scarlet, you have to get out of there. You have to get off this island!"

"It's too late for that," his sister replied. "Quicksilver, you said you wouldn't interfere if your methods didn't work."

"But you don't understand! Not only does father know you're here, but he's already planned out how he's going to deal wi--" The orb dissipated after being sliced in half by a thick and rusty blade. Scarlet fell back in surprise, then was helped to her feet by Lancelot.

Standing where the orb was, a gangly, iron marionette struggled to heft its longsword onto one shoulder as it limped forward to attack again. "Stay back, Scarlet," the knight commanded as he stepped forward to meet the creature. When he pulled his sword, a rusted chain came from the distance, wrapped around his blade and pulled it from his grasp. Another mechanical marionette came out from behind a tree and caught the sword as it was pulled to it, then the weight of the sword caused it to tumble off its feet.

All around the travelers, the iron creations of Lord Magnus came alive and rose to battle them. Each creation moved with an unnatural gait, as if their wrists and ankles were attached to manipulative strings. Remington and his crew gladly leaped forward to meet the challenge, and after punching out the marionette that dared to take his sword, Sir Lancelot rushed to fight as well. Scarlet could only stand and watch, for her strength rested solely on her magical abilities which meant nothing on this island.

Mystique watched with a bitter expression as the creations advanced on the travelers. Any that came near enough to harm her were quickly dispatched by two or more of her minions at a time. "I told them we shouldn't have stopped here," the woman stated angrily. "Now I'll lose precious time for--"

"Your time is well past up, Mystique." The voice of Lord Magnus came from nowhere and everywhere at once, followed by several chains that wrapped themselves around the sorceress and her followers. The neck of each Hoppera was quickly snapped, putting them out of commission while the chains around Mystique made an attempt to crush her.

"I will not die so easily," the woman grunted, then shifted into the form of a black cat. She easily slipped from the chains and, once on the ground, made a quick dash for the swamp. Mystique then made a high leap to clear a lengthy puddle of water, but before she was halfway across, the head of Mekan Ikull broke the water's surface and closed its mouth around her.

Seeing the mechanical dragon pull itself out of the swamp was enough to catch the attention of everyone present. "How the Hell did it get there," Sky Fire yelled as she signaled Blooper to take to the air.

"Who cares," Saint John called back. "Better question now is how do we get rid of it!"

After fending off a few marionettes, Captain Remington rushed towards Mekan Ikull with an idea in mind. He latched onto the wrist of a marionette and its corresponding ankle, then swung it around himself a few times before launching it at the mechanical dragon. During the swing, the Captain had charged the living doll with kinetic energy, making it a giant bomb. Once it reach Mekan Ikull, it exploded near the creature's chest and sent it tumbling back into the swamp.

"Dat answers dat," Remington said as he dusted off his hands.

"Don't stop there," Lancelot called to him. "Throw another! The more the better!"

"As y'wish!" Remington struggled with another marionette, then threw it at Mekan Ikull. The monster roared in anger at the assault, but was being effectively driven away.

By this time, the amount of automatons had thinned out but they were still moving in formidable numbers. "We've got to get out of their reach," Scarlet called to her friends. "Saint John, how many of us could Pyro carry?"

"None unless you're all fire proof," the priest called to her from the air. "M'boy's unbearably hot when he's active! Only reason I can stand it is I'm immune!"

Sky Fire landed her mount on top of a few marionettes, then guided it towards Scarlet. "You know Blooper's got room for a couple of you if you need a ride, Scar!"

"I know," the witch said as she climbed aboard, "but I don't want anyone left within the grasp of those things." Over her shoulder she called to Lancelot, "Come on, Lance! We can't keep fighting these things forever!"

"You too, Remy," Sky Fire shouted afterwards. "I ain't gonna sit by and watch you get skewered!"

"Don't forget me," Toad declared as he leaped and latched onto Blooper's tail. During the battle he had spent most of his time ducking and dodging the marionettes, for although he had wisdom to fight properly, he was still a coward at heart.

Saint John brought Pyro around to pick up Colossus--the only other person in their traveling group who could withstand the heat of the dragon's body. Just as Pyro came close enough to the ground, a jet of water shot out from the swamp and bore a hole straight through the dragon's head. It cried out in agony and threw Saint John to the ground, who was gripping his own head from being able to feel what his familiar felt. The dragon and its master died simultaneously, giving off final twitches of life as lava poured from its head, and blood from his ears.

"Merde," Remington declared as he saw this, then he reached up to grab one of Blooper's feet as the dragon flew his way. Before the dragon could reach him, a spear-tipped chain caught the Captain in his extended hand and its serrated nodes went straight through his palm.

The cry of the Captain sent chills up his lover's pine. "REMY," Sky Fire shrieked as she almost leaped off her mount's back to help him. Anger and desperation took over the woman's personality as she saw four more chains shoot out of the swampwater and wrap around Remington's limbs and torso.

Lancelot and Colossus dashed across the forest floor in an effort to reach the Captain in time, but it would not be so. Mekan Ikull lifted its head out of the murky water and reeled Remington in, bringing him to rest in the groove of its lower jaw. The Captain was in the perfect position to be crushed, but Mekan Ikull let its mouth hang open as if to taunt the others with what it had.

"AHHHHHHHHH!" Sky Fire's cry echoed across the land as she guided Blooper to attack the mechanical dragon, forgetting that she had passengers. The clever automaton waited for just the right moment, then it swung out with a foreclaw and slammed it down on Blooper's head, stopping the dragon's flight path as well as sending Scarlet, Sky Fire and Toad catapulting in the air before it. Of the three, Mekan Ikull caught Sky Fire in its left forepaw before she could reach the ground. Triumphantly, the beast sat back on its haunches, then roared while holding Blooper up by his head and Sky Fire by her lower half.

Pain surged all over Captain Remington's body and his mind reeled from being near the source of the roar, but he still had enough wits about him to make a final effort. He relaxed his body, smiled to himself, then used his hands and the back of his head to charge Mekan Ikull's jaw with kinetic energy. The explosion was a shock to everyone who witnessed it, and while it left no remains of Captain Remington LeBeau, it also took out all of the iron dragon's head.

  
  


Mekan Ikull's body shook the ground as it fell and sent waves of swampwater crashing in all directions. The body still held Blooper and Sky fire in its grip, but the grip had gone lax, giving the dragon and its rider space to free themselves with. Blooper wasted no time pulling its head out to where it could breathe, but Sky Fire remained where she was, sobbing over the loss of the Captain.

From where she stood at the edge of the swamp, Scarlet had witnessed the whole event and was still shaking because of it. Few of her friends were left, and she knew that if she wanted those remaining to stay alive, she would have to abandon her quest for her father's head. All of a sudden, the price was too great for her to continue.

"We've... we've got to get out of here." The witch stepped carefully out into the open, then spoke louder. "We have to get out of here. Lancelot, Colossus, help me... help me get Sky Fire out of the claws."

Both men stepped forward and began walking with her towards Mekan Ikull's body. Blooper was already crouched over its rider and nuzzling her in an effort to make her move, but the woman remained sideways in the open palm of the mechanical beast. Eventually, Toad pulled himself out of hiding and leaped across the swamp to join them, completing the remaining group of travelers.

Just as they gathered around the iron claw, a statement from a foreboding voice stopped them all from reaching out to Sky Fire. "A noble act, but sadly in vain."

Suddenly, the iron claw clamped shut around Sky Fire and another claw quickly snatched up her dragon by its neck. Mekan Ikull's body rose up on its haunches while its head regenerated from the neck to the tip of its elongated fangs. The flames came back to its eyesockets in a furious blaze, then the monster bellowed out an angry roar. When its head lowered, Lord Magnus could then be seen floating in the air above it, his cape billowing in a nonexistent wind behind him.

Scarlet's eyes went wide as she and her friends took several steps back from Mekan Ikull. Then, she focused a hate-filled glare on the man that floated above it. There he was: the source of her life-long misery--the cause of all the world's suffering. Scarlet could barely keep the glow of magic from covering her hands, let alone her feeling of hatred from sending her into a fit of blind rage as she continued to stare at him. "You..."

"You have made it this far," Lord Magnus stated in his usual calm. "I would expect nothing less of one of my bloodline; however, whatever fortune you once had ends here and now."

"Fortune?" Scarlet shook her head. "You call standing back and watching all your friends die, 'fortune?'"

"You are fortunate to still live to see them perish. I have sent many to reclaim you, Scarlet, all of which were experts in their various fields. Yet you surpassed them all in longevity." Magnus extended his left arm before speaking again. "I realize now that trying to destroy you is not the route I should be taking. Instead, I shall give you this final chance for redemption."

"_Redemption??_ How dare you tell me that _I_ need redemption," Scarlet yelled, and flashes of lightning cut across the sky in emphasis of her mood. "You're the one who is ruining this world; _you're_ the one who is killing off my friends!"

Though he didn't show it, Lord Magnus couldn't be more pleased to see one of his offspring displaying true power. "On the contrary. Were it not for you, your friends wouldn't be within miles of my island. You are the one who brought them here, knowing full well that only death awaited them. Already, four of them have found this out in a very irreversible way. Now, you will watch the rest suffer the consequences of setting foot on my island."

"NO," Scarlet screamed, causing more lightning to flash. "You will NOT kill anymore of my friends!"

A patch of blue mist collected next to Lord Magnus, then took on the shape of a statuesque woman. When the mist solidified, it added color to the woman's body: pale coloring to her skin, a violet tint to her lengthy hair, a streak of red face paint that stretched across her eyelids, and black and blue wrappings that made up her clothes. A black quiver hung from her back but it contained no arrows, and the ebony bow she held in her right hand had no string. Her expression remained emotionless, even as she opened her colorless eyes to look at the travelers.

"You have no choice in the matter," Lord Magnus said to his daughter, continuing their conversation. "You have disbanded yourself from my allegiance, and threatened my very rule. I will have no flesh of mine against me. As punishment for your disobedience, you will have the privilege of watching your remaining friends die as painfully as possible. Then, my latest hired mercenary will see to it that you never disobey me again."

While the two continued their dispute, Sir Lancelot and Toad gathered near Colossus to have a discussion of their own. "I don't wanna sound too cowardly, yo, but we have got to get the Hell outta here," Toad whispered first.

"I am no coward, yet I agree with you," Sir Lancelot whispered next. "We have to fall back and regroup! I only wish that we could save Sky Fire without causing a scene, but I don't see how that's possible right now."

"Scarlet'll never come, though! This is kinda the moment she's been waiting for all her life!"

"Then the movement will have to be against her will."

"ENOUGH TALK." The bellowed words came from Lord Magnus, who no longer had the patience for conversation. "Mekan Ikull, finish the job."

As the titan began to move, it slammed Sky Fire face-down in a deep pool of swamp water and crushed Blooper's throat so it couldn't breathe. The dragon was left to wallow and its master was left to drown. Mekan Ikull then crawled forward with the intention of attacking but as it lowered its head, Colossus came forward and caught it by the tips of its fangs. In his metallic form, the man was stronger than normal and could keep the creature at bay for a short while. As Colossus struggled with Mekan Ikull, Lancelot and Toad raced forward to grab the Scarlet Witch.

"We have to go, Scarlet," Lancelot shouted as he reached for her arm. The witch pulled herself out of his grasping range.

"I am not leaving here without killing him," she shouted with tear-filled eyes. As she watched Blooper give its last kick and the final rise of air bubbles where Sky Fire had been buried, Scarlet couldn't stop herself from throwing spell after spell of futile magic in her father's direction. Inside, she felt like a child harmlessly pounding away at an adult's leg. All of her spells bounced off of an invisible barrier that surrounded Magnus and not once did he flinch due to having them thrown at him. To end Scarlet's unhinged tantrum, Lancelot hit her in the back of her head with the hilt of his sword, knocking her unconscious. Toad caught her over his shoulder as she fell to the ground, then he took off leaping for the depths of the Death Forest. Lancelot stayed behind to provide a distraction while the boy made a break for it.

Lord Magnus was highly amused by their efforts, but like all the rest of his emotions he never expressed that feeling. Instead, he called upon the woman who floated in the air near him. "Psylocke. Get rid of him." One of Magnus' gauntlets motioned towards Colossus, who was still holding his own in the shoving match with Mekan Ikull.

The Archer focused her emotionless gaze on the struggle, then reached back into her quiver. A shaft of energy shaped like an arrow appeared within her reach and she took it to place in her bow. Her right arm stiffened, then her left arm pulled back on the nonexistent string and she took aim. When the arrow fired, it struck Colossus in the head and absorbed into his body regardless of his metalized form.

Colossus broke off the struggle when he felt that something was wrong, then was knocked aside by Mekan Ikull who caught him completely off guard. As he tumbled, Colossus couldn't seem to notice the spots of rust that spread across his metal frame. Every inch of him converted to rust in a matter of seconds, then when a tree stopped his flight path, Colossus fell apart and blew away on a random wind.

Sir Lancelot grit his teeth to hide his horror. He knew then that he wouldn't live long enough to retreat, but he had to give Toad the time he needed to take Scarlet to safety. With his blade positioned in front of him, the knight ran forward to meet Mekan Ikull head-on; unfortunately, it wasn't the dragon who had any interest in him. After Lancelot's third step he felt himself being hoisted off the ground by his breastplate, then the rest of his armor gained the feel of being lifted as well. His sword left his grip against his will and it floated next to him as he found himself prostrated in the air a few yards from Lord Magnus.

"The avalanche who honors my daughter's whim," the lord stated aloud. "I believe I called for you once, but you never came. Tell me. Is this truly your answer to my rare and often sought-after invitation?"

Lancelot struggled to move, but found he could only wriggle his appendages underneath his armor. "I would rather perish in the name of your daughter than serve under the likes of you," he growled.

"Both scenarios are quite doable." The knight's own sword began tracing his body as Lord Magnus spoke. "You see, in order to become one of my elite, your body must be augmented with several implements that would leave the living greatly unable to function." The blade of the sword pointed directly at Lancelot's midsection. "Your frame and power is all I truly desire, Sir Lancelot Alvers. The rest, is completely expendable."

The light in Magnus' eyes dimmed as he glanced at the Death Forest. "You care a great deal for the Scarlet Witch," he commented off-hand to the knight, then focused a brightly-glowing gaze on him. "You care a great deal, and yet you hardly know her. Interesting. Let us see if she returns the sentiment. Mekan Ikull, retrieve my daughter." The metallic dragon open its mouth and sent one of its chains after the fleeing frog.

  
  


Ever since his communication was strangely interrupted, Quicksilver had occupied himself with furiously trying to get out of his room. Using his power to create sharp and forceful winds, he managed to destroy all of his room's ceiling and large portions of its walls; the force field seemed hidden behind each. Rogue made her effort to help, but even the most powerful shot of magic from her staff wouldn't cause the field to waver.

"I don't understand," the Rogue said after throwing another spell. "My seeing spells work on it, but none of my de-spells or attacks even make a dent!"

Quicksilver swiped his hand at thin air, sending five sharp streaks of wind at the barrier. "Damn you, father," he growled as the streaks had no effect. "Why is he doing this to me?"

"I told you why," Rogue said between breaths. Throwing out spell after spell was taking its toll. "You just won't accept it!"

"If it were true, I would have known about it by now," Quicksilver growled back. "Now stop trying to convince me that I have to destroy my own father!"

The two continued to argue as they took a break from trying to damage the force field. Meanwhile, a lone figure made her way through the winding hallway that lead to Quicksilver's room. Injured but undaunted, Mystique limped with a prideful gait towards the doors to Quicksilver's room. During the last battle with Mekan Ikull, no one noticed the dragonfly form she used to escape its inner mechanisms. Her left hand clutched a wound on her right arm and she used her staff like a cane to help herself walk. The tap of her boot heels and staff end against the marble floor made enough of an echo to attract Rogue and Quicksilver's attention, then as she came into view, the two moved close to the force field so they could be near her.

Quicksilver was the first to speak. "Mystique? You look like crap. What's going on out there?"

The sorceress wiped blood from her mouth before speaking. "Why aren't you out there finding out for yourself?"

"There's a forcefield surrounding the room," Rogue replied. "We've been trying to break it, but it's too strong!"

Mystique frowned as her eyes focused on the shield that the others couldn't see. "Rogue, we're going to have to use a weakening spell together. Then, Quicksilver will have to strike the barrier in order to break it." She positioned herself so her staff was in front of her and her pupil did the same.

As the two started to speak in unison, Quicksilver stepped forward and interrupted their chant. "Whoa. Not that I won't be happy to get out of this prison, but, why are you helping, Mystique? I know there's always a catch to your assistance."

The sorceress's eyes burned yellow and she snarled like a puma. "As we stand here, Mekan Ikull is systematically eliminating Scarlet's followers at _your father's_ beck and call," she said through gritted teeth. "_Your sister_ will get to watch her friends be tortured and die in a gruesome manner without being able to do anything about it! Then, when she is mentally and emotionally unable to take anymore, your father will instill upon her a curse that will leave her with no will of her own. Now. Do you wish to question my motives again, or would you rather be in the position to do something about the Scarlet Witch's suffering?"

Quicksilver's expression soured considerably as he listened to her speak. "Cast the damn spell," he demanded once she was finished. Once again, the sorceress and her apprentice spoke in unison.

"Hidden barrier, invisible field, bend by the power that we wield!"

Thick bolts of lightning leaped out from the tips of their staffs and struck the force field at the same point. From that point, cracks formed in the field and spread out like a spiderweb. When enough of the cracks accumulated, Quicksilver sent a rush of wind at the barrier and, upon impact, the barrier shattered from one side to the next. The man then took off in a blur of motion, leaving a trail of friction in his wake.

  
  


The pungent odor of the Death Forest is what brought Scarlet back to consciousness, but seeing Toad be roughly dragged backwards by his ankle is what really woke her up. She ran to catch up to him, only to see the boy be dragged quicker, then stood helpless as he was thrashed against the trees near the edge of the forest. Scarlet cried out in protest--even threw more magic in Mekan Ikull's direction; all her efforts were in vain. Toad was tossed around by one of the dragon's chains even after he started bleeding from old wounds and scars. Finally, the torture of watching her friend be beaten to death became too much for the Scarlet Witch.

"STOOOOOOOP!" A terrible hush covered the land, allowing everyone present to hear the moment when Scarlet started sobbing. "Stop it," she cried as she fell to her knees. "Just...just stop." Her vision blurred with tears, yet she managed to find her father in the cloud-covered sky and look pleadingly at him. "I'll do it. I'll... I'll do whatever you want. Just... please... stop hurting him."

Weakness. Lord Magnus knew what trouble weakness could wrought. The light in his eyes dimmed until his helmet appeared hollow, then he spoke in a tone much calmer than the one he normally used. "You and I share more than blood, my daughter. We share a passion for mortals. Long ago, I fell prey to these emotions, and that is how you and your brother came to be. I cared a great deal for your mortal mother; however, I found out what an opportunity such caring would be for my enemies." The light came back to Lord Magnus' eyes. "Now, you have learned that lesson as well. It is a pity that you had to learn it in this manner, but the lesson will soon be over. Your friends are all that tie you emotionally to mortals. Their destruction will bring a close to the nightmare you have been suffering through."

When his final sentence hit her, Scarlet sat up straight and looked at Toad. "NO," she cried as she scrambled to reach him, but it was far too late. Mekan Ikull threw the Hoppera up against a large three, then drove one of its spearheads through his chest, pinning him there permanently. A cough of blood masked the boy's final cry before his head bowed and body went limp.

Scarlet's own heart felt as though it had been torn when she watched the Toad die. Her adopted brother of ten years was gone, but the worst and final blow had yet to be dealt. As Mekan Ikull retracted its chains, it used one of them to gently turn the Scarlet Witch around and tilt her head upward so she could see Sir Lancelot, still suspended in midair. The knight could only bow his head sadly as they exchanged glances, for they both knew what was coming next.

"Do not grieve for Alvers," Lord Magnus stated. "He will be reborn as an elite member of my army, just as I had intended for him to be. But, before that may happen..." The breastplate of the knight's armor pulled off his body. "He must die."

As his own sword drove upwards into his torso, Lancelot clenched his teeth to keep from crying out. His eyes rolled back in his head and the ground below him rumbled and cracked in several places. Magnus released his hold on his armor, then the knight dropped out of the sky, dying before he even hit the ground.

Scarlet screamed as she rushed forward and threw herself at Sir Lancelot's body. Her hands clasped around his face and she pressed her forehead against his, sobbing once again. His eyes were still open and she could practically see the apology written in them. "I'm sorry I failed you, Scarlet," is what she thought he would say if he could speak right then and there. "No, you didn't fail me," she said to his lifeless eyes.

"So the sentiment was shared," Lord Magnus observed, then dismissed with a casual wave of his hand. "No matter. Psylocke, you may do what needs to be done."

Once again the archer loaded her bow and pulled back on its nonexistent string. She aimed at Scarlet with the intent to kill only those parts of her psyche which her father wanted destroyed. Her sights focused on the helpless woman huddled over the body of the knight, then she paused to allow a brief gust of wind to subside. When the wind had passed, Psylocke checked her aim once again, then fired a direct hit on Scarlet's left shoulder blade.

  
  


The Scarlet Witch's sobs cut short as the psionic arrow absorbed itself into her body and formed a red aura around her. Her eyes glowed with the same light when she opened them and her face was magically cleaned of its tear stains. Confusion marked her face for merely a moment as she rose to her feet, then she gained a look of wonder while turning her hands over and under to look at them.

"This... this feeling..."

"It is quite liberating, isn't it," Lord Magnus inquired. "Never having to feel for anyone; having the freedom to act out of your own desires. And, no longer acknowledging would-be friends and loved ones as possible hindrances to your motus operandi." He extended his left hand in her direction as he lowered himself towards her. "Welcome back to the fold, my daugh--"

"No." As Scarlet leveled a hate-filled gaze on her father, he stopped his approach.

"What?"

Scarlet clenched her hands into tight fists as she spoke. "This feeling is liberating, but not for the reasons you spoke," she stated calmly, sounding more in control of herself than she had ever been. "I don't know what you intended for Psylocke's arrow to do to me, but thanks to it, I now know that I have had the power to defeat you all along."

Lord Magnus' eyes burned brightly as he focused his attention on the archer. "It this true?"

"To the highest bidder, my services rendered," Psylocke stated plainly.

"WHO COULD HAVE POSSIBLY BID HIGHER THAN ME," Magnus bellowed angrily.

"I am not obligated to reveal my clients," the archer replied, then disappeared in a flash of light.

Lord Magnus raised his fists to the sky and cried out angrily at having his will undermined. He could only wonder who would be so bold, though in the next instant, that became the least of his worries. At the last moment, he managed to throw up a shield that protected him from a thick beam of energy which could have knocked him out of the air. The lord watched in hidden amazement as the inner edges of the beam created sparks by scraping against the surface of his shield. When the attack subsided, he reverted back to his usual calm and addressed his daughter.

"You may think you have the power to defeat me, but you are sadly mistaken." As he spoke, Magnus charged up his power for a return shot. "Do you think I only bestowed my creations with magic invulnerability? Nothing you throw at me will do much more than push me from one end of this island to the next."

Scarlet made her own shield to block the crackling orb of velvet energy that came her way. "I'd say it's about time someone pushed _you_ around," she said with a smirk, even though she couldn't deny his words. Knocking her father around Asterum wouldn't do her or the world any good if it didn't put an end to his tyranny. Her shield remained to keep his attacks at bay while the Scarlet Witch looked down at Sir Lancelot with an idea in mind.

The hilt of the knight's sword was still sticking out of his gut when Scarlet took hold of it. As she pulled the sword out of him, she concentrated on mending his wounds and returning his spirit to his body. Lancelot's eyes closed slowly and his mouth drew in a sudden breath when the tip of his sword left his abdomen; his eyes had new life in them when they opened once again.

Lord Magnus could only watch and wait as his daughter worked magic that she previously didn't know she had. The knight rose to his feet with the help of the witch, then his eyes and aura burned with the same red hue that covered her. They acknowledged each other with brief glances before turning to face Magnus, their minds and movements linked through magic.

The Scarlet Witch and Sir Lancelot took on a similar stance. "Since thou claim invulnerability to magic," they said in unison, "I shall revel in discovering how vulnerable thou art to ye olde physical beating!"

Lord Magnus was amazed, but undaunted. "I think not." He motioned for Mekan Ikull and the dragon stomped forward to attack Sir Lancelot.

The knight and the witch chuffed in unison. "Typical," they said, then Lancelot moved to meet Mekan Ikull halfway.

The blade of Lancelot's sword collided with the tip of the monster's snout and visible friction built up where they pressed against each other. Both the knight and the witch strained their faces during the effort, despite the fact that Scarlet was nowhere near the struggle. Iron all over Mekan Ikull screeched as it took its joints to the limit while trying to shove the knight aside, yet it couldn't even force him to take a step backwards. Sir Lancelot's strength was being amplified by the Scarlet Witch and it was about to become even greater.

The aura that surrounded Scarlet and Lancelot increased its intensity, then with a mighty shove, the knight sent the dragon sprawling backwards. Mekan Ikull landed in a sideways heap against the swamp floor and its face actually registered shock--a visible display of what its master felt. Just as the dragon righted itself, Sir Lancelot leaped into the air with an unnatural lift and came down sword-first in its direction. The diamond, gold and obsidian imbedded in his sword lit up and added their power to the force of impact. The blade of the sword collided with Mekan Ikull's snout again, only this time it actually cut through its thick, iron casing. Scarlet and Lancelot cried out as they put all their energy in forcing the knight beyond the dragon's throat; the aura that surrounded him seared its inner workings and melted away its frame.

The halves of Mekan Ikull fell into separate, steaming piles of deformed metal; its destruction caused Lord Magnus to kneel in pain while he was still in midair. Scarlet smiled cruelly when she noticed this, then she and Lancelot dead-set their sights on him. "Now that I've taken care of your better half," they said, then left the rest of the sentence hanging in the wind. The knight twirled his sword in front of him a few times before taking on an offensive stance. "Thou hast slain my allies, warlock. For that you will pay dearly."

"Using the knight as your weapon. How clever." Lord Magnus lowered himself to the ground as he spoke, then held out his right hand. The remains of Mekan Ikull drew towards him and compressed into the form of two swords with dark blades. Magnus then tossed his cape aside as he took a sword in each of his armored hands and gave them each a practice swing. "Very well, Scarlet Witch," he said as he took a step forward, "see first-hand how foolish your venture is."

"SHUT UP," Lancelot and Scarlet shouted as their auras erupted into red flames, then the knight rushed forward with his sword held out to his left. Scarlet raced across the muddy ground behind him and as the swords of the warriors collided she leaped deftly over the two of them and sent several shots of her energy at her father's back.

Keeping only one sword ahead of him to hold the knight at bay, Lord Magnus turned the other behind him to easily parry away the shots he didn't turn to look at. Then, he shoved Lancelot backwards with little effort and parried more back blows that his daughter threw at him.

"I have given you every opportunity for redemption," the lord said as he fended the knight backwards into the Death Forest. "I even presented you with the opportunity to be free of your emotions, the one weakness we are all cursed with. Yet, you defy me to the bitter end." He paused to swipe at Sir Lancelot with his sword, then turned, caught a beam of energy that came his way and threw it back at the Scarlet Witch. "Psylocke's arrow did not assure you that you had the power to defeat me; it merely opened your mind to your full potential, one that still pales in comparison to mine."

Scarlet barely managed to dodge his counterstrike, but after dusting herself off, she glared at him with her eyes glowing as intensely as his. "You think you will be heard for your much speaking," she and Lancelot said, still speaking in unison. "Nay. Thou hast taken too much pride in utilizing words to fight thine battles." The knight held his sword vertically in front of himself while the witch held her palms outward. "Come, warlock. Put your power where your mouth is!"

Lord Magnus knew this challenge well; he had faced it many times against the unbelieving spellcasters who felt their power to be a match for his. Beneath his helmet a self-assured smirk spread on Magnus' lips before he raised his hands and allowed twin beams of blue energy to shoot from the air on either side of him. At the same time, Sir Lancelot sent a golden beam of energy towards the lord's right and Scarlet sent a red beam towards his left. So began their deadly test of wills with all three participants pushing their powers to the brink just to keep the opposing flows at even levels.

  
  


Hours, days and weeks could have passed with this struggle never ceasing. As long as her powers were joined with Sir Lancelot's, the Scarlet Witch could match her father's energy output without breaking a sweat. Unfortunately, this awesome display of might was not getting either side anywhere, and deep down the witch knew that she would give in long before her father would physically. Lord Magnus merely waited for her to tire out, confident of his staying power; Scarlet needed something more to tip the scales in her favor. One other person knew this in his heart and ran forward to do something about it.

The moment went so fast it wasn't registered until seconds after it occurred. From out of nowhere, Quicksilver ran up and delivered an uppercut to Lord Magnus with so much force that it knocked him a third of a mile away from his standing point and plowed him through any tree that stood in his way. The two beams of energy being made by Scarlet and Lancelot collided once they no longer had anything holding them back; thankfully, Quicksilver stepped aside just in time to avoid impact. The explosion between the two beams is what jolted the knight and the witch out of their moment. Once they realized what had happened they both registered shock, then looked to the man who stood several yards away with his back to them.

"Quicksilver?"

Breathing heavily, Quicksilver stood with his hands clenched, slowly moving his right fist up so he could look at it. His knuckles were bruised but visibly healing. "Wow. You don't know how long I've waited to do that," he said to no one in particular, then turned to call out to his sister. "Now, Scarlet! While he's off his guard!"

No one was more shocked than Lord Magnus in this incident. Not only did he believe his son was being kept from interfering by the barrier he made, but his mind still wouldn't register the fact that the one child he had kept close to him would betray him in any way. The punch that Quicksilver delivered had sent his father's helmet flying in an unknown direction, leaving his powerfully masculine face exposed to those who would see the astonishment that gleamed in his steel, blue eyes. That look remained frozen as his facial expression when a beam from the Scarlet Witch caught him and froze him in place.

She had done it--Scarlet had her father right where she wanted him! The witch and the knight grinned in an almost intoxicated way as they ran to deliver the final blow; however, when Quicksilver realized what they were about to do, he raced ahead and stood in their path. "No," the man shouted. "Scarlet, don't do it!"

Scarlet and Lancelot frowned. "Don't do what," they asked in a tone of disdain. "Free the world from the likes of _him_?"

"Don't kill him just because you're pissed off! Isn't that what you're mad at him for? Doing things just because he could?"

Lightning flashed across the sky as Lancelot and Scarlet took several steps forward. "If he lives, all this will have been for naught! The knights perishing, my friends being slaughtered, _your sudden growing of a backbone_..." She shook her head while he slashed at the air angrily with his sword. "He cannot go unpunished!"

"So punish him, but don't kill him!" Quicksilver positioned himself so any attacks from his sister would have to hit him first. "He's our father, Scarlet. Remember that? Mine? Yours? The only family we have besides each other?"

Scarlet's face registered anger and disgust as she listened to her brother's plea. She wondered how he could still defend that wretched man, though she already knew the answer to that question. It irked her to no end how he still found room in his heart for the tyrant but, because of his feelings, she knew she couldn't have the revenge she greatly longed for. Instead, the Scarlet Witch settled for an interesting compromise. Using the field that already held Lord Magnus in place, she compressed his entire essence into a darkly-colored amulet. Then, a light toss of her right hand caused a silver necklace to appear around her brother's throat. The amulet joined with the necklace and, to Quicksilver's surprise, could not be taken off.

The man looked puzzled as he glanced at his twin. "... What?"

"Our father, is now _your_ responsibility," Scarlet and Lancelot stated bluntly, then relaxed their postures as the aura and glow of their eyes subsided. When they recovered from the release of the spell, the two approached each other and stopped with an arm's length between them. The knight was almost without words, completely confused over what had just transpired; the witch smiled subtly at him as she reached up to touch his face.

"Thank you for lending me your power," she said softly to him.

Lancelot remained confused. "You... I.... we--"

"Shhhhhhh." Scarlet put her hand in front of his mouth to stop his babbling, then stepped forward and leaned her head on his chest. "It's over. It's finally over." The words were so incredible, she couldn't help but smile more as she said them. Then, a realization made her lift her head away from Lancelot and turn to look sadly across the land. "I just wish that they could be here to see that."

"Perhaps they can," the knight stated as he moved to stand beside her. "You brought me back from Heaven's light. Why not the rest of them?"

Scarlet's gaze wandered as she thought for a moment. "... It would take a lot of power, but... I could do it." She nodded with certainty. "Yes, yes I could." Her gaze fell on Toad, who was still attached to a tree at the edge of the Death Forest. As she walked, she made motions with her hands that caused the spearhead to wrench from the boy's chest. She reached his body just in time to catch him before he fell to the ground, then cradled him in her arms as she sat with her back against the tree. Even though she knew she could resurrect her friend, the witch couldn't help the tears that fell from her eyes at seeing him dead. A white aura encompassed her body and as she hugged Toad, then energy from the aura went into his body and healed all of the wounds, old and new, that covered him.

Toad's chest drew in a slow breath before one of his hands moved to touch Scarlet's arm. He murmured something incoherent, then opened his eyes tiredly to look at her. "... Scarlet?"

The woman smiled as she lessened her grip around him. "Welcome back, Toad."

After clearing his throat, the boy slipped out of her grasp and settled into a crouch. He looked around at all the damage that had been done to the surrounding environment, then tilted his head at her. "Did I miss your big moment?"

Scarlet nodded slowly at him. "I'm afraid so." 

"Aww!" Toad tossed a handful of dirt in no particular direction. "I wanted to be there to cheer you on!"

Scarlet chuckled at his childish attitude. "In a way you were." She stood up and stepped into the open. "Stay where you are, Toad, and that goes for everyone else," she called as she put her arms out and away from her body. "I'm going to need a lot of room to do this."

Toad tilted his head in confusion, but stayed where he was. Sir Lancelot merely gave a silent nod and Quicksilver stopped prying at the amulet that was magically fixed to his neck. While they watched, the Scarlet Witch closed her eyes and allowed another white aura to surround her. Particles of magic in all colors drew into her and soon engulfed her body in a bright light. This light pulsed a few times when the buildup completed, then expelled in a series of dome-shaped flashes that extended outward across the land. As the final dome passed, fifteen snake-like creatures made of pure light flew from Scarlet's body and headed for the various places where her friends had died.

In the swamp, two of the snakes dived into separate puddles while one wrapped itself around Blooper's body and absorbed into its scales. Moments later, the water of one puddle parted to reveal Sky Fire, who dragged herself out into the open. She took a moment to cough up any water that had previously filled her lungs, then looked to where another figure was rising out of the swamp. Captain Remington took several, dizzy steps onto stable ground as he rubbed his face briskly, then lowered his hands so he could look around. Before he could say anything, the man found himself being pounced by the woman who had thought him to be gone forever.

"REMY!" Sky Fire raced across the swamp and tackled the Captain to the ground. He grinned at her after he caught his second wind, then stared with wide eyes as Blooper galloped in their direction to join the dogpile.

"Ca c'est assez! De Captain has NO desire t'die twice in one day!"

While those three had their reunion, another spiritual snake dived into the dirt near the edge of the Death Forest and unearthed Colossus, no longer in his metallic form. The man was confused but quite relieved to find himself alive, and turned to witness the rest of the resurrecting along with the others. A snake constricted itself around Saint John and Pyro, then as it faded away, the priest and his dragon lifted their heads to look around. Eight snakes took to the Hoppera children and realigned their necks before bringing them back to life; the remaining two disappeared over the distant mountain range to stop by the black sand beach.

When the resurrections were over, Scarlet dropped her arms to her sides and looked around to see her friends; unfortunately, the high use of her power left her body weak and vision blurry. As soon as she tilted her chin outward, the witch collapsed to the ground, not even hearing the others as they cried out and rushed to her aid. She was alive but her power was greatly diminished--it would take her many days of rest to reach her full potential once again.

  
  


**Epilogue**

  
  


The procession that carried Scarlet back to the shore of Asterum was a happy one at best, despite the gloomy atmosphere that surrounded them. At the beach, the group met up with Atrophy and Blob, who were already waiting with the life boat pushed into shallow waters. "Hey you guys," Atrophy called as he ran to meet them. "Did you do it?"

"Scarlet did it," Captain Remington stated. "She defeated Lord Magnus an' brought us all back after we were executed!"

"Great," Blob grumbled, "so I really did miss the big finale!"

"An' y'wouldn't have if y'hadn't rushed into things like I keep telling y'not to," the Captain scolded.

"No need for an argument," Lancelot said with a smile. "It seems we all live to learn from our mistakes this time." He paused as he felt something in the pit of his stomach, then looked down at the ground beneath his feet. Each grain of black sand was slowly losing its color, going from black to white all the way down the beachfront. It was a slow but noticeable process, and soon everyone's attention fell on this odd spectacle. "The evil is being drained out of this land," the knight observed, "but how?"

"Probably the Astral Archers," Quicksilver commented out of the blue, his gaze locked on the amulet that contained his father. "I promised them the island if they did something to help Scarlet beat Lord Magnus."

Lancelot blinked at his words. "So then... the arrow that was meant to enslave your sister's will?"

"Split-second bartering goes a long way with an Astral for hire," Quicksilver pointed out, then hopped into the life boat. "Now are we getting off this rock or what?"

"I t'ink it's high time we did jus' that," Captain Remington said as he joined him. "Mes amis, let's shove off!"

The heroes set sail for La Gambit using Blooper to push the life boat against the tide. As they left, they spared a lasting glance at the island and watched as its shore continued to change color. Strangely enough, only three-fourths of the shore changed before the process stopped, but no one thought anything of it as they turned their attention back to the ship that awaited them.

  
  


Back on Asterum, the process of purification by the Astral Archers had been interrupted by sudden interference from the Sisterhood of the East: the guild of sorceresses who were governed by Mystique. Although the archers had access to all the power in the Universe, the surprise attack by the Sisterhood left them nearly defenseless and most were destroyed while the others were chased off. The sorceresses then pooled their power together and created a barrier that blocked all unwanted entry to their newly-claimed plot of land.

With a smug smirk of victory, Mystique sauntered up the steps that lead to the lofty perch in Lord Magnus' throne room, then she smoothed out her loincloth so she could properly cross her legs while she sat down. At her right hand, the Rogue appeared and sat on the arm of the chair with a crooked smile. They acknowledged the presence of Sabretooth's mangled body, but decided he was too fitting a decoration to let down just yet.

"Oh, how the mighty have fallen to make way for the staid," Mystique commented casually, then filled the air with her echoing laughter. Soon, the entire guild joined in the fit of victorious mirth at having obtained an island they had waited centuries to conquer.

  
  


In two days, the Scarlet Witch became able to talk and move gingerly about, though she remained in bed at the combined order of all her friends. Sir Lancelot was able to stay awake on the open sea thanks to a spell she secretly cast on him, and he made frequent visits to her just to see how she was doing. "You really shouldn't be casting spells at random, fair Scarlet. At this rate, you'll be bed-ridden for weeks instead of days."

"It's nice to be waited on hand and foot for a little while," Scarlet said with a smile. "Every time I look like I'm going to get up and get something, someone leaps out of nowhere and asks what I want."

The knight smirked knowingly at her. "Why, Scarlet, I thought you didn't like social events where you were waited on hand and foot."

"Yeah, but this isn't a real social event. It's more like... private pampering." The woman chuckled, then looked towards the portal of the crew's quarters. Quicksilver was standing in the doorway and looking slightly grim. "What's wrong with you?"

"I hope you're happy," the man said as he stepped into the room. "This stupid amulet clashes with everything I like to wear! And I can't get it off my neck! Is this curse my thanks for saving your butt twice in one day?"

Scarlet rolled her eyes at him. During her rest, she had been told how the arrow ended up helping instead of hurting her, and for a while it made her appreciate her brother a bit more. Still, his tendency to whine made it hard for her to see beyond his still-apparent love for the man who almost destroyed the world. "It's not a curse, I just made sure you wouldn't lose him. You're the one who didn't want me to destroy our father, so now you have to keep up with him and make sure he doesn't do anymore harm."

Quicksilver chuffed as he folded his arms across his chest. "Yeah, and the best way for me to do that is to wear him as an ugly trinket. I see. You know, I'm learning something from all this being good business, and the one moral I've come up with is that you and Fate have no fashion sense." He sighed as he dropped his hands to his sides. "Well, I'm gonna go see if I can't find one quiet corner on this barge to relax in. Get well, Scarlet; nagging you feels much more satisfying when you're well enough to at least try and walk away."

While her twin wandered off, Scarlet settled on her cot and relaxed a bit more. "You're getting better, Scarlet," Sir Lancelot commented off-hand, "and it'll be a fine day when you are able to move about yet again."

The witch studied his face for a long time, then sighed. "Look, Lancelot. You and I have to talk."

The knight's brow furrowed as he lowered himself to her level. "Praytell, fair Scarlet. What is on your mind?"

"You know... While we were fighting my father, while we were joined spiritually, I saw into your head."

He chuckled a bit. "Ah yes, and I into yours."

"Yeah. Well, there's one thing I noticed while I was in there." Scarlet's facial expression went vague. "You really are a polished boot, aren't you?"

Lancelot was caught off guard by her comment. ".... What?"

Scarlet reached up and smacked him lightly on the side of his forehead. "Sir Lancelot, you are a very nice person--a gentleman of the highest order. Unfortunately, I don't think I can handle that about you."

The knight's brow furrowed as he listened to her speak. "Fair Scarlet... why are you telling me all this?"

"Days ago, you offered me a chance to see some of the finer things in life. I'd really like that, but we're going to have to do something about the way you speak, first."

He remained confused. "Praytell, what is wrong with my diction?"

"_That_ is wrong with your diction! Nobody says 'praytell' anymore!" Scarlet shook her head at him. "We'll work on it together, if you really want to. And I think you do."

Sir Lancelot fell silent as his gaze found its way to the floor. He sat like that for several moments before speaking to the Scarlet Witch again. "You have seen into the inner reaches of my mind, as I have in yours." The knight looked back at her with a small smile. "Very well.... Scarlet. If it will please you, I shall learn to speak in a different manner."

"Good," Scarlet said with a nod, "'cause talking like you during that battle with my father gave me a headache." She relaxed a bit more, then reached up and placed her left hand behind his neck. "Here." As he leaned in close enough, the Scarlet Witch sat up and gave him a peck on the cheek.

Lancelot blinked as he sat up straight, then smirked wryly at her. "Now, Scarlet," he commented as he scooted closer to her, "if you get the privilege of instructing me on how to speak better, then I gain the privilege of teaching you how to better deliver a kiss."

"Oh?" She looked at him with an arched brow. "My kiss wasn't good enough for you?"

"Mediocre at best, fair witch. But we'll work on it together if you really want to. And I think you do."

Scarlet chuckled at his use of her own words, then nodded slowly to him. "You have seen into the inner reaches of my mind... So where do we start?"

"Lesson one." And with that, Sir Lancelot leaned over the Scarlet Witch, then engaged her in a deep and meaningful kiss.


	5. Credits

**Credits**

  
  


All FCs (Feature Characters) are a product of Marvel and were modified to fit the medieval fantasy theme of this document.

From X-Men: Evolutions - Lance Alvers (Sir Lancelot), Todd Tolensky (Toad), Wanda Maximoff (The Scarlet Witch), Raven Darkholme (The Sorceress Mystique), Magneto (Lord Magnus), Pietro Maximoff (Quicksilver), Victor Creed (General Sabretooth), Fred Dukes (The Blob), Remy LeBeau (Captain Remington LeBeau), Saint John Allerdyce (St. John/Pyro), Rogue, Piotr Rasputin (Colossus), Callisto, Caliban

From the Various Comics - Clarice Ferguson, Japheth, Betsy Braddock (Psylocke)

Original Characters (based on characters by) - Sky Fire/Blooper (Melissa O'Brien), Princess Felicity (Lady Lysander Morrigan), Atrophy (Zach S.), The Priestess Vi (La Ratta)

All other character concepts were of my own, twisted design. Mekan Ikull is my pride and joy and I would appreciate it if no one made mention of it anywhere else without my permission.

Thanks to Misato and LyssaChan for the Remyse (translating Captain Remington's dialogue from good English to bad).

_Songs listened to while typing this fic:_  
Hohoemi No Bakudan (Yu Yu Hakusho soundtrack)  
Hiei Theme (Yu Yu Hakusho soundtrack)  
Change the World (Inu Yasha themesong)  
Mysterious Tokyo (Blue Seed themesong)  
Go Monkey Go by Devo  
Signal in the Sky by Apples in Stereo  
Samurai Jack's themesong by will.i.am  
My Will by Dream (Inu Yasha soundtrack)  
Fukai Mori (Inu Yasha soundtrack)  
The Real Folk Blues (Cowboy Bebop soundtrack)  
Mina Soko Ni Nemure (Blue Sub 6 soundtrack)  
You Got Me by The Roots, featuring Erykah Badu  
Hero by Chad Kroeger  
Big and Loud (Cats Don't Dance soundtrack)  
and ALL of Seal's second album:  
Bring it On, Prayer For the Dying, Dreaming in Metaphors, Don't Cry, Fast Changes, Kiss From a Rose, People Asking Why, Newborn Friend, If I Could, I'm Alive, Bring it On (reprise)

_How'd she do it?_ Riding on the city bus. Spent most of my time with these various songs in my ears to drown out the noise of commuter travel while scribbling in various notepads. Some writers prefer to find the quietest corner in the world to call upon their muse; I find being in a musically-enhanced atmosphere to be more of my muse's liking. Really, it was all just something to do during the 40-minute ride from home to college and vice-versa. I got in the mood to write during Christmas Break of 2002 and one of my friends just shouted out, "Medieval Evo!" I let my pen hit the paper, and this is what came out.

  
  


_Tidbits:_

-No, you're not delirious. Various names of people and places were clever word plays I used for my amusement. See if you can guess them all, and if not, here's a list:

Bavil (Bayville), Machusa (Massachusetts), Newark (New York, even though Newark is an actual place), Bowel Displacer Tavern (The Gut Bomb), Asterum (Asteroid M), Keepers of Humanity (Friends of Humanity, from the comics and such), Laskan (Alaska), Spearhold, etc. (the names of all the knights of the Terra Firma is an amusing play on how Lancelot's name goes. The first syllable, 'Lance,' also refers to a type of weapon. Same goes for all the other knights), The Hopperas (all named after some kind of amphibian)

-Mystique says at least three ridiculous rhymes when she spellcasts. Why, you ask? Thanks to _Sabrina, the Animated Series_, I hold onto the firm, fictional believe that "the dumber the rhyme, the cooler the spell." You'll probably notice in any of my future writings that any and spellcasters who carry some sort of wand or staff will more than likely make a rhyme before throwing out magic when they need it to be its most effective. I just like doing that.

Ask me anything else, and I'll post it here. Other fanfics to follow.


End file.
